Metamorphosis II: Aggression
by Flidais
Summary: When something causes Max’s chimeric nature to spin out of control can Alec help her to find herself again?
1. Days to Remember

** Metamorphosis II: Aggression **

  
Rating: R   
Show: Dark Angel  
Genre: Drama/Action/Angst   
Type: WIP/Series  
Summary: When something causes Max's chimeric nature to spin out of control can Alec help her to find herself again?  
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Damn.  
Spoilers: At least through 'Exposure'. You may want to read "Metamorphosis I: Regression" in order to get into this…and if you've already read it, feel free to re-read & re-review. Heh.   


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** Chapter 1: Days to Remember **   


"Could not." 

"Could so." 

"So could not." 

"So could so." 

"Alec!" 

"What?" 

A few feet away from where Max and Alec faced off, Sketchy leaned over and whispered to Original Cindy, "Dude, they're like cats and dogs." 

"Hmph," Cindy responded. "More like spoiled lil' stray kittens." They watched as the battle continued. A resounding _thwack_ echoed among Jam Pony's lockers as a slender, yet powerful hand met with the back of a head. 

"Ow, Max! You know, violence isn't always the answer." 

"Alec, you are really deluding yourself if you honestly think that you could beat me in pool." 

The assassin turned bike messenger stopped rubbing the back of his head and leaned against his locker, giving her his most confident smirk. "Now, now, Maxie," he said. "How do you expect us to believe you when none of us has ever even seen you play." 

Cindy spoke up, "Baby Boo does have a point, girl." Max whipped her head around, a look of total shock on her face. 

"Hey," Sketchy interjected before Max could respond to her turncoat roommate. "How come you're suddenly calling Alec 'Baby Boo' but I've never had a 'boo' name?" He plopped down on the bench between their lockers and looked up at Cindy with a bewildered pout. The Queen of All Things Sassy shrugged one eloquent shoulder. 

"'Cause Alec is adorable, while you're just sketchy." 

His shoulders slumped. "Dude, that was harsh." 

Alec slapped his friend on the back. "Don't worry Sketch. I'll make sure that you get the majority of the beer Max will be buying after she loses horribly tonight." Sketchy brightened immediately. 

Max put one hand on her hip and looked Alec up and down. "A. You could never beat me at anything. B. Who said I was even gonna play?" Her tone and stance were all attitude and defiance. 

Alec grinned and exchanged a conspiratorial look with Sketchy. "What do you think Sketch? Maybe Maxie's chicken?" Sketchy snickered, but quickly sobered when it was his turn to face Max's glare. 

OC cleared her throat. "Boo, you're not really gonna take that, right? 'Cause I think female pride demands that you put up or shut up right about now." She glanced at Alec, who was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Despite herself, Cindy felt her own full lips tugging into a smile. She couldn't help it, his grin was just infectious. 

Max stared at her three friends beaming at her. She was outnumbered. Alec not only had Sketchy on his side – complete with goofy expression – but he'd also managed to win over Max's most trusted ally. She bit the inside of her lip as she tried to maintain her scowl instead of smiling back at them. 

Finally she threw up her hands and shouted, "Fine! I'll play you!" After all, she was a soldier; she knew all about tactical retreats. She wasn't surrendering in the face of her friends' laughter. Oh no, this was not surrender! This was part of her strategy. She had Alec exactly where she wanted him. She would return to fight another day – or tonight – and would annihilate the enemy. Better yet, she would embarrass the utter crap out of him. 

Max stepped forward to stand toe to toe with Alec and stared up into his sparkling hazel eyes. She narrowed her eyes and poked him in the chest with one perfect finger. "Your ass is mine." At her words, Alec's grin became a lascivious smirk and he waggled his eyebrows at her. She felt her cheeks grow warm and realized just how little space there was between her body and Alec's. Stepping back, she did the most predictable, most natural thing. She gathered the butterflies fluttering around her stomach into her fist and let rip with a punch to Alec's shoulder. 

"Ugh!" 

"Ow, Max!" 

"Pig!" 

"Oink." 

Before the next phase of their never-ending skirmish could continue, a new party marched onto the battlefield equipped with black-framed glasses, a dispatch headset, several packages, and a sour expression. Normal dropped the packages on the bench in front of Sketchy and scowled at the bike messengers. 

"Do the words 'gainful employment' mean anything to you people?" 

Max flipped her hair over her shoulder and muttered, "I'm not sure how 'gainful' this rat trap is." 

"Oh yeah, Missy Miss?" Normal pushed his glasses up on his nose. "How about the words 'unemployment line'?" 

Alec saw a look come over Max's face that only meant trouble. He mentally shrugged. They say the enemy of your enemy is your friend. He looked over Normal's shoulder with wide eyes, pointed, and gave a shout. 

"Holy smokes, Normal! Is that George W?" 

"What?! Where?!" Normal whipped around and searched the open space behind him as if Alec had announced the second coming. Only more of the disheveled slackers he referred to as employees met his eager gaze. His disappointment was palpable as he turned back to Alec and friends. 

"Oh, sorry, boss." Alec gave him a cheerful smile. "Must've been a trick of the light." 

"That's okay, my boy." Normal straightened his collar as Max tried to hide her laughter with a cough. "Your enthusiasm toward one of this country's greatest leaders is admirable indeed." He stared hard at the most troublesome lot of the bunch. "And it's something that the rest of your miscreant co-workers could learn from." 

"Ah, well, you know." Alec shrugged while three pairs of eyes rolled simultaneously. Normal put his arm around Alec's shoulders. Startled, Alec shied away and glanced sideways at their borderline-fascist boss. Normal gave his broad shoulder a firm squeeze. 

"Alec, you are truly a unique creature unlike any other." 

Alec's face went pale and then turned an unhealthy shade of green. The voices of OC, Sketchy, and Max blended together as they all screamed out, "Hot run!" Cindy and Sketchy matched Max's transgenic speed as all three scrambled to grab their packages and bags and flee the scene as quickly as possible. 

Max tossed Alec a package, which he caught with one hand. He twisted out of Normal's grip and raced after the others with a shout of, "Bip!" 

As Alec's feet hit the asphalt outside where they parked their bikes, he spared a glance over his shoulder to make sure that Normal hadn't decided to follow them. To his relief, he saw no signs of the man. He slowed down, putting his hands in his jacket pockets, and strolled over to where the others were already mounting their bikes. 

"Damn," Sketchy was complaining, "I picked up a run to Sector 12." He readjusted his messenger bag and shook greasy bangs out of his eyes. He grimaced when Alec arrived by his side. "Dude, that was close." 

Alec shuddered, glancing over his shoulder once again. "You're telling me." He turned back around and nodded to Max. "Thanks." 

"No problem." She smiled sweetly at him "You owe me." Alec frowned, imagining the ridiculous Eyes Only mission she was sure to make him go on. 

"For real, Baby Boo," Cindy cut in, "this obsession Normal has with you is really gettin' outta hand." 

He winked at her as he got on his own bike. "Can I help it if I'm devilishly handsome and full of charm?" 

"Devilish is right!" 

Sketchy grinned. "And I don't know about charm, but you're definitely full of shit." 

Alec put a hand to his heart and adopted a wounded expression. "Sketch, we're dudes! We're supposed to have each other's back." 

"Sorry my man, but it's my sacred duty as a journalist to ferret out the truth and expose it to the world in all its glorious ugliness." 

Cindy turned Alec's signature smirk back on him. "Don't worry, Baby Boo. You can't win 'em all." She gestured at Sketchy. "C'mon boy, I got Sector 12 too." Waving at Max and Alec she said, "We'll see y'all at lunch. Sketchy's buying." 

"Hey, why am I buying?" 

"Because Original Cindy said so, fool." With that, she rode off with Sketchy trailing behind. Max turned her bike in the direction she needed to head for her first run, but Alec stopped her. 

"Max, hold on a sec." He reached into his bag and pulled out a plain cardboard box. "I almost forgot about this." He tossed it her way. 

She caught it effortlessly and shook it next to her ear.. "What is it?" 

Alec sighed. "Just open it, Maxie." She did, turning the box upside down and emptying the contents into the palm of her hand. It was a small mobile phone, matte black like the clothes she wore. She flipped the cover open. It was the newest, top-of-the-line model. After her Ninja, it was the cutest thing she'd ever seen. 

Of course, to cover her unexpected pleasure at the gift, she asked, "Did you steal it?" 

Alec shot back, "Does it matter?" Max didn't answer and after a few moments Alec continued, "Anyway, it's charged and ready to go." 

She pulled her gaze away from her new toy and set her big brown eyes to studying the man before her. He sat astride his bike with a casual and cocky confidence that was echoed in the way he wore his plain leather jacket and blue jeans like second skin. A lopsided smile completed his usual careless and carefree expression. To everyone who glanced at him, his appearance was that of a happy-go-lucky ladies' man with all the time in the world and the ability to make the most of it. 

Max knew better. The little boy that Alec had become after last week's run-in with White had shown her that a better reflection of who Alec was could be found in his eyes. She looked into those hazel depths now, and he met her gaze steadily. She saw a glimmer of nervousness and doubt, and a spark of apprehension that made her have to swallow and belied his confident pose. In that moment she realized that she held a shard of this man's heart in her hands, just as she'd known sitting in the rain atop the Space Needle that the little boy inside him held a piece of hers. 

Yet, Max didn't always trust her outer or inner senses, enhanced though they were. Too many times life had not gone her way. Too many times those things she'd thought so simple and so harmless turned out to be complex, ticking time bombs planted with utmost precision throughout the world she'd created for herself. 

So she asked, "Why?" 

Alec frowned and looked away, seeming to search the space around her for the answer. He shrugged and scratched at the back of his head before meeting her eyes again. "I don't remember much from last week, but I do know that you managed to save my unconscious ass from White's evil clutches." He gave a small chuckle and shrugged again. "Think of it as my 'thank you'." He wheeled his bike around and started pedaling away, calling over his shoulder, "The number's inside the box. Catch ya later." 

"Later." 

As Alec rounded the corner of the building a breeze came from behind, ruffling his light brown hair against his barcode and carrying to his enhanced hearing Max's whispered "Thanks." He sped off toward his first run with a true smile on his lips. 

  


* * *

  


Seattle's sectors whistled past as Max traveled that morning's runs in something of a daze. Her thoughts were circling the same themes that had been occupying her mind for the past week, among them: Alec. She couldn't decide if it was a good or a bad thing that he remembered so little from his hours spent as a man trapped inside the mind of a seven year old. While he didn't remember how he got to the Space Needle that night or their trip to the hospital, he did remember running through the woods with her and teaching Joshua to play the piano. She also figured that he remembered destroying Logan's exoskeleton, although he hadn't mentioned it, because within a day he'd managed to score a new one from one of his obscure contacts. He'd left it as Logan's penthouse with a note that simply said "It works." 

Max was pretty sure that Alec did not remember the rest of what happened at Logan's, including his fight with Logan and the hurtful words that Max had said to him. Which inevitably brought her to the memory of her own minor breakdown. As hard as she tried to ignore and forget it, it kept stabbing at her with its clarity. She wasn't quite certain what had triggered that particular maelstrom of reaction from her. Maybe spending all that time with junior Alec had caused her to shed some of her heavy emotional armor? Whatever the reason, the fact that she could lose control of herself so quickly and so easily had her scared out of her mind. 

As a result, Max had spent most of the week avoiding Logan, the only person who'd witnessed her weakness. It had been easier than she'd thought it would be. He'd immersed himself in some Eyes Only project and didn't really seem to notice her absence. Max had been so relieved that she'd been left to herself that she didn't wonder at her not-boyfriend not missing her. 

On the other hand, Max had been seeing much more of Alec in the last week. It seemed as though whenever she left the house, whether to work or play, she ended up near Alec. She wouldn't admit it to herself, but some part of her felt the need to keep checking to make sure he was still around. She'd gone back to arguing with him – his smart-ass remarks pretty much demanded it – but her bitching was more in the way of playful swatting than the vindictive stings of the past. Their customary banter was so natural that it helped keep her mind off of herself. As for Alec, he seemed to adjust to the kinder tone of their association just as smoothly as he'd adapted to the seedy underbelly of life outside Manticore's gates. He was letting her set the tone of their growing friendship, and that was fine with her. 

The wind blew Max's long brown hair away from her face as she headed back towards Jam Pony for lunch. She entered the bike lot and noticed that the others' bikes were already there. She parked and checked the time on her new mobile. A small smile lit her face as she pressed the illuminating button on the side. The blue glow told her that she was late, as usual. She shrugged and walked into the building. 

Max found her friends gathered around one of the tables on the platform off to the side of the main room. She plopped down in the only empty chair left and surveyed the feast laid upon the table. She raised an eyebrow at the lanky man sitting across from her. 

"Corn nuts and beer? This is what you call lunch, Sketch?" 

"Works for me," he answered with a smile. 

"Besides, you forgot about the pork rinds, Maxie." Alec held up a large bag of the imitation snack food. "They're key." He popped a handful in his mouth and began chomping happily. Max shuddered at the sight and turned to look at her roommate sitting next to her. 

Cindy raised her hands in surrender. "My bad. Original Cindy knows better than to depend on a man to do anything right – especially eating." 

Alec erupted into a fit of coughing and sputtering as he tried to laugh around a mouthful of pork rinds. After he finally regained his composure, he reached under his chair and pulled out a paper bag. Max made a grab for it before it even touched the table. 

She took one look inside and exclaimed, "Hoagies!" She piled the sandwiches onto the table and swiftly grabbed one for herself. 

"Whoa Maxie, take it easy there. What would Miss Manners say?" 

Max glanced up at Alec with her eyebrows furrowed and her cheeks bulging like a chipmunk's. "Who?" 

The shrill ring of Alec's phone saved him from providing an explanation. He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled it out. "Yeah," he spoke his customary greeting and then waited for his caller to speak. "Sure I do…You know me…I'll be there." He snapped the phone shut and picked out a sandwich for himself. 

Sketchy took a swig of his beer and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Dude, what was that about?" 

Alec shook his head. "Nothing, man. Just a little business." 

Looking Sketchy up and down, Cindy demanded. "Why you all up in the boy's Kool-Aid and don't even know the flava?" 

When Sketchy blew off Cindy's question, Alec turned to Max with a frown and silently mouthed, "Kool-Aid?" Max wore an equally perplexed expression when she shrugged and shook her head to indicate that she had no idea. 

The rest of the meal passed normally enough. Sketchy cracked lame jokes, Cindy talked about her latest Barbie-like honey, Alec attempted to get under Max's skin with smart ass comments, and Max punched Alec in the arm no less than seven times. They finally disbanded when they noticed Normal making faces and shaking his watch-covered wrist at them. Alec and Max walked down through Jam Pony side by side and headed toward Normal's desk. 

"Hey Maxie, I need a favor." 

Max smirked at the tall transgenic next to her. "Why am I not surprised?" 

"Ha. Funny." He stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Could you meet me at the docks at five? I need an extra body to help carry the load I'm scoring off one of my contacts." 

She raised her hand to halt any further explanations. "I am so not gonna to be a part of one of your scams." 

Alec's eyebrows shot up. "It's not a scam. It's totally legit…well, maybe not totally." 

"So you're saying it's semi-legit?" 

"You know, legality is such a subjective art." He was gesturing with his hands as he spoke. 

"Alec." 

"Listen, the important thing is that it's for a great cause." 

"What cause?" 

"If I told you now that'd take all the fun out of it." 

She shot him an incredulous look. "Do I look like I was born yesterday?" 

He sighed. "Just trust me. It'll be worth it, I promise." When she still didn't look convinced he held up two fingers. "Scout's Honor." 

"We were never scouts." 

"You're right." He smiled mockingly. "'Manticorean Killing-Machine's Honor' has a much better ring to it." Max rolled her eyes. Alec continued, "Just be there, okay Maxie?" 

She gave in. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Fine. Whatever." 

He smirked at her triumphantly before asking, "You think when I grow up I'll be as enthusiastic and adventurous as you?" 

"You're pushing it, Alec," she growled. 

"Always." The grin he gave her was cheeky. He turned and headed out the door with just one package under his arm. 

"Psst. Hey Missy Miss." It was Normal calling to her from behind his counter, she knew without even looking. She rolled her eyes and put her hand on her hip, ready for whatever nagging remark he was about to dish out. She turned to face him. 

"Wh—" 

"Bip!" The word was shouted before Max could even finish her question – amplified one hundred times over by the bright yellow bullhorn that Normal held to his lips. The entire building started in surprise, and even Max jumped back a bit. He took advantage of her momentary pause to shove three packages into her arms. Then he waved a dismissive hand at her. "Now. Away. Or do I need to use Martha again?" He stood there caressing his new toy, one itchy finger on the trigger. 

Max quickly spun on her heel and walked away. She went up the ramp shaking her head and muttering to herself. 

"The man named his megaphone. That's just sick."   
  


**TBC**


	2. Rivers in Egypt

** Chapter 2: Rivers in Egypt **   


The sun was edging toward the horizon when Max arrived at the docks. Alec stood at the end of a wide pier staring out across the gentle waves, his hands in his jacket pockets. The warm glow reflecting off the water illuminated his profile and highlighted the gold in his light brown hair. He was as still as a statue. Even with her superior sight, Max couldn't make out the minute rise and fall of his chest. Maybe he wasn't breathing. Maybe this was some meditation exercise Manticore had taught their soldiers long after she'd escaped. Being careful not to make a sound, she dismounted from her bike. She wondered if he'd even noticed her arrival. 

"Way to be on time, Maxie," Alec's sarcasm broke the silence. Well, that answered that question. 

His bike and messenger bag were leaning against a stack of wooden crates that stood not too far from him. Max set her bike next to his and walked over to him. She had her excuse ready. "What can I say? That last run Normal sent me on took longer than I expected." The other X5 turned his head to lock eyes with her. One eyebrow was raised and his trademark smirk graced his lips. 

"It's amazing to me that you've been out in the world hiding who you are all this time but you're still such a horrible liar." His words brought a scowl to Max's face. She flipped her hair over her shoulder. 

"Fine. I swept the perimeter. I don't know your contacts, so I don't trust them." She shrugged and said as insincerely as possible, "No offense." 

Alec shifted so that he was facing her fully. "None taken," he returned. "I would have done the same thing. Standard tactics." Max's eyes widened in surprise before she could stop them. He caught her change in expression and smiled cheerfully, walking towards her. "Of course," he continued, "I would have gotten here early to do it so that I'd be on time." 

She made a face at him and then looked around them, spreading her arms wide and challenging, "So, where is this great contact of yours, huh?" 

"Oh, the meet isn't for another ten minutes," he replied, still smiling. "I just told you five o'clock because I knew you'd be late." Ignoring her scowl, he put his arm around her shoulders. "It's good to be right." 

Max pushed him away. "I'm reconsidering calling you 'Dick', you know." He winked at her and laughed outright, before turning back to look across the water. Max felt her lips turn up at the corners and immediately brought her scowl back, hoping that Alec had missed her smile. She had recently come to the disturbing realization of just how much she looked forward to the sound of his laughter. Not his mocking snicker or his self-deprecating chuckle, but the pure sound of delight he gave when he was genuinely amused. Of course, she'd never let Alec know. No reason to give him more ammunition to use in their banter. 

The first time she'd really noticed the sound was one week earlier when she was chasing him through the woods attempting to retrieve her clipboard. He'd been a laughing pied piper, and she drawn to follow him. Later that same day she'd heard his clear laugh mingled with Joshua's canine chortle and it had given her a natural high. In the past week, she'd witnessed Alec and Joshua growing closer, they seemed able to crack each other up nonstop. So, Max had made it a point to spend extra time with the two of them together. 

Around Joshua, Alec seemed to drop some of the cocky, cynical, smart-alecky walls that he kept firmly in place in the outside world. He seemed more genuine and more vulnerable. It was a condition that she seemed to have in common with him. There was something about being around Joshua and Alec together that made her feel open and safe in a way that she hadn't felt since she'd been with her siblings. 

"I know I'm hot, Maxie, but you think you could quit staring?" 

Max blinked, realizing that her eyes had been pulled toward Alec's profile. She shook her head and then made a face at him. "Whatever. I was not staring." 

"Ri-ight." He drew the word out, making sure to give his sarcasm time to drip off each letter. Max crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her hip, attitude incarnate. 

"Even if I had been, it would only be because I can literally watch your head expand with your rapidly inflating ego." 

He was about to spit out his answering gibe, but stopped suddenly and cocked his head to the side as if hearing something. 

"He's here," Alec announced. 

Max stilled and listened. Then she caught it. Beyond the screeching calls of seagulls and the lapping of the waves against the wooden docks was the distinct whir of a motorboat coming closer. Her first impression as it came into view along the horizon was that it was quite small. But as the skiff approached the docks she realized that the vessel was only small in relation to the man sitting within it. 

"Ahoy, Alec!" The man called out with a chuckle. To say Alec's contact was rotund would be a serious understatement. It was a wonder that the boat didn't capsize beneath his weight and the massive bulk of the several bags that overloaded the rear of the craft. As it was, the motorboat rocked precariously as he stood up to throw the lead rope onto the pier. 

Alec caught the rope and gave the big man a grin. "How's it going, Bear?" He quickly secured the boat, then offered a hand. He made a show of straining to pull Bear onto the pier, though Max knew he could have bench-pressed the man with very little effort. 

Bear grunted, "Same shit, different day, kid. But, I tell ya, you're a real life saver. I can't believe you've got a buyer for twelve dozen steroid-injected pigs feet and forty pounds of illegally cloned ham hocks!" 

Alec leapt nimbly into the boat and began to unload the craft. "Always happy to help a friend in need." 

Max gave an un-ladylike snort from the sidelines. Bear turned his attention to her for the first time. He took a moment to examine her lithe figure from head to heels and back again. All the while, Max's ire was rising. 

She put her hands on her hips and decided to give the man fair warning. "Do you have a problem?" The tone of her voice was frostier than the raw October gusts blowing across the water. 

Ignoring the warning, Bear glanced at Alec before nodding in her direction. "Who's the looker?" 

"That would be Max," Alec answered without pausing in his task of placing the black market goods on the docks. The process was taking much longer than usual since, for the sake of appearing normal, he was only carrying two large bags at a time. 

"Never woulda guessed such a feisty chick'd be your girl," Bear chuckled. 

"She's not my girl." 

"I'm not his girl." The denials chorused together. Max and Alec glanced at each other and then looked away as soon as their eyes met. 

Alec unloaded the last of the bags and jumped up himself. "Uh, we're just friends." He tossed Max one of the bags. She caught it deftly then marched toward the bikes. He sighed as he watched her angry steps. "Give me just a sec to get your money." 

"No prob, kid." Bear smiled knowingly. "Take all the time you need." 

As soon as Alec reached her side, Max turned fiery brown eyes on him. "I should've known your contact would be just as rude as you," she hissed. 

"Relax, Maxie," he whispered back, as he pulled an envelope stuffed with bills out of his messenger bag. "Unless you want Bear to comment on how much you need to get laid." Alec knew enough to simultaneously duck a slap to the head and dodge a kick to the shin in the next moment. He danced out of her reach and chuckled, his eyes sparkling. "You're becoming kinda predictable, you know." He was still smiling as he made his way back to the end of the pier. 

Bear glanced into the envelope as soon as Alec put it into his hands. His eyes were gleaming and a large smile was gracing his round face when he looked back at the young man. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, as always." 

"Same here," replied Alec. He watched Bear tuck the envelope into the waistband of his pants, where it promptly disappeared beneath the enormous fold of his belly. Alec moved to untie the boat from the pier as the other man stepped gingerly into his skiff. "Let me know next time I can take something off your hands," Alec said at the start of boat's motor. 

"Will do, kid," Bear called over the whir of small propellers. 

Alec watched for a few moments as the craft moved across the dark waves. Just as he was turning away he felt his legs abruptly swept from underneath him. He landed hard on his backside and looked up to see Max towering over him. He hadn't even heard her walk up behind him. "What the hell was that!?" 

She shrugged. "Wouldn't want to be too predictable." She smiled sweetly, flipped her hair, and sashayed back to their bikes. 

Alec stood and dusted off the seat of his pants, a sardonic twist to his full lips. "I'm really starting to hate that smile," he mumbled under his breath. 

Max looked over her shoulder at him, her smile even bigger and sweeter. "You coming?" 

  


* * *

  


Downtown Seattle was teeming with pedestrians rushing home for the evening. Alec and Max deftly rode through the crowds, avoiding collisions with unconscious ease. They were on their way to Joshua's with the bags evenly distributed between their two bikes. The sun had just set, leaving the sky a rapidly-cooling ocher. 

"So, how'd you get the cash for that little buy back there?" 

"I think we should take Market." He quickly turned to his left, cutting off an oncoming rusty truck and a man pushing a dirty laundry cart down the sidewalk, and headed for a narrow alleyway. Max followed just a hair behind him and with similar disregard for traffic patterns. 

"Answer the question, Alec." She pedaled a little harder until she was even with him again. The spreading lavender of the sky shone down through the fire escapes jutting from the alley's buildings, making Alec's face appear alternately shadowed and luminescent. 

"I, uh, sold a car." 

"How'd you get a car?" 

"Stole it, of course." 

"Figures." 

He rolled his eyes. "Would it help if I said I stole it from a really, really bad guy?" 

"Alec, we're supposed to use our super powers for good, not evil." After a few moments of silence, Max realized that Alec hadn't responded with any of the usual smart ass comments that she expected from him. She glanced to her side and met Alec's horrified gaze. "What?" 

"Well, what you said made me think that you sound like the female version of Logan. But, you don't look like him – my eternal thanks to Manticore for that – which made me wonder what the female version of Logan would look like." The green pallor of disgust began to overtake the look of horror on his face. "So then this image of Logan in a dress popped into my head. And now I think I'm gonna hork." 

Max's leg shot out to kick at Alec's tire. Only his transgenic reflexes kept him from ending up sprawled face-down on the pavement. While he recovered from the drive-by assault, the vision of Logan in a dress insinuated itself into her imagination. She shuddered…which made her feel guilty because a girl wasn't supposed to get the willies when thinking about the supposed love of her life, no matter what the circumstances. Of course, the horror involved with seeing Logan in a dress, even if only in her mind, did sort of amount to extreme and extenuating circumstances. 

She scowled at her companion. "Shut up, Alec." 

He held up one hand in innocence. "I'm just saying…" 

They rounded a corner onto an adjacent lane that spanned a few blocks. Max suddenly pulled to a halt. She jerked her chin toward the end of the narrow space between the buildings. Her voice was full of urgency when she asked, "Do you see that?" 

Stopping beside her, Alec let his eyes zoom in to where she'd motioned. He saw a bald transhuman with skin the color of paste and beady eyes wide with the panic of a trapped animal running down the street. When the creature saw them, he veered to the right down a side alley, obviously unaware that it was a dead end. 

Alec sighed and shook his head at the sight. "Typical." He looked over at Max. "What the hell was he thinking coming out in the open? It's not even full dark yet." 

"I don't know," she answered, "but he's got company." Hearing her words, Alec cast his gaze back down the street. Four sector cops armed with assault rifles charged onto the scene, hot on the nomalie's trail. 

"I don't suppose we have a plan?" Alec's question was thrust to the wind as Max sped off. He raised his hands in defeat. "Why do I even ask?" 

In the blink of an eye, Max was to the wall of the corner building. She used her transgenic abilities to quickly scale the five story wall, finding footholds and handholds where there were none. Few seconds had passed before she hoisted herself onto the roof and blurred over to the far corner to peer down into the blind alley. 

A set of fire escapes lay directly beneath her, the kind with a retractable ladder. On the asphalt beyond the rusty platforms, the sector police had backed the small transhuman into the solid wall, surrounding him on thee sides and cutting off any chance of escape. 

The man nearest to the captive spoke up with clear authority, "Call for backup. I don't know what this thing is, but I'm not taking any chances." 

Max didn't need to hear any more. She back flipped off the roof, shooting out a hand while in midair to catch hold of the ladder. Her momentum pulled the iron rungs down, swinging her over the nomalie's head. She released the ladder, allowing her body to sail through the air and plow into the officer reaching for his radio. As his body slammed into the wall behind him, Max sprang backwards, landing in a handstand before bounding up and taking the leader out with a roundhouse kick to the head. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Alec ride up. He popped his bike up onto its front tire, using the back tire to knock over a third man while he piked his legs forward over the handlebars in a move that would have made any extreme sportsman proud. He let go of the bike just as his feet connected squarely with the chest of their last opponent. 

Alec surveyed the unconscious policemen lying strewn across the alley and dusted off his hands. "Well, that was fun." He grinned over at his cohort, whose cheeks were flushed a pretty pink with her own excitement. "Nice move with the ladder, Maxie." 

"A girl does what she can," she said with a smile and a shrug of her shoulders. Then she noticed the slightly mangled form of his bike laying on the ground, the impact of hitting the sector cop having taken its toll. She knelt down beside it, shaking her head. "We really need to get you your own motorcycle. This is just getting ridiculous." Her slender hands deftly bent the twisted metal back to its proper shape. "How do you pull off any decent heists using this as your getaway gear?" She glanced up to find Alec staring down at her. She quickly stood, wiping her hands on her pants with a nervous gesture. "Uh, not that you should be doing heists anyway. Because it's, you know, wrong." 

A smart-ass comeback was on the tip of Alec's tongue, but then he decided that subtlety was the way to go this time. So he plastered his most knowing smirk on his lips and gave Max a cheeky wink. She responded by huffing, scowling, and turning her back on him. 

The X5's took notice of the other transgenic for the first time since they'd rescued him. He blinked coal black eyes at them. He was certainly a runt, dressed in tattered layers that were most likely castoffs. Slightly pointy bat-like ears sported small tufts of coarse dark hair, the only hair on his body from what they could see. 

Max cocked her head to the side and nodded at him. She questioned him with a kind and gentle tone. "You alright?" 

The transhuman gave a quirky smile. "Yeah, I am. Thanks." 

Alec spoke up from just behind Max's shoulder. "Guess you weren't any good at Escape & Evade back at Manticore, huh?" 

The little guy just shook his head. "No need. They made me to dig trenches." He pointed a thumb at his chest. "Name's Luke." 

Max completed the introductions, "I'm Max and that's Alec." She smiled. "Nice to meet you." 

Behind her, Alec rolled his eyes. "Far be it for me to break up the party, but maybe we oughta blaze before the cavalry arrives?" 

Luke grinned. "Sounds like a good idea to me. You guys wouldn't happen to know the best way to Terminal City from here?" 

In answer, Alec walked a few feet away and lifted a thick manhole cover with absolute ease. "Might I suggest Seattle's lovely sewer system?" 

"Head north-northeast for about six klicks," Max added, as Luke scampered over to the opening. "That should run you safely behind Terminal City's perimeter." 

He lowered himself into the hole. "Thanks guys. See ya around!" With those parting words, he disappeared into the darkness below. 

Alec replaced the cover just as the faint sound of sirens came to their ears. "I think that's our cue." 

They retrieved Max's bike as well as the bags of food that Alec had hurriedly discarded before joining in the rescue, and then took the fastest route away from the approaching sirens. 

A few minutes later, they were safely back on course to Joshua's house. A comfortable silence reigned over them. That is until Max noticed it. Her brow furrowed. A quiet Alec usually meant trouble. She glanced to her side and saw that his bottom lip was caught between his teeth and his hazel eyes seemed to be looking more in than out. 

Deciding to interrupt his thoughts, she asked, "What's up, Alec?" 

Awareness came back into his eyes at the sound of her voice. He gave a shrug. "I was just thinking that it's about time we told Josh about Terminal City. He needs to be around people like him." 

Max turned away and faced down the road. "He is. He's around us." She could feel the weight of Alec's gaze. 

"Max, that's not what I meant, and you know it." 

Max chewed on her lip. "He's safer staying inside." 

"Oh, because keeping him locked up in some ancient house is really a good idea." The sarcasm flowing from Alec made Max whip her head around to glare at him. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

He threw up one hand in a vague gesture of exasperation. "Max, how long do you think it will be before someone sees him? How long before he accidentally gets spotted passing by a window?" 

Max rolled her eyes. "This coming from the same guy who convinced Joshua to go outside with a bike helmet on and deliver packages." 

"I'm pretty sure that I've already apologized for that." 

"A little adventure, I might add, that ended in the poor guy high off his gourd and totally freaked out." 

"I'm not talking about marching him down Main Street, Max. I'm talking about making his world a little bigger and letting him see that there's more to life outside than Sandeman's shack." When Max didn't respond he continued, "You should tell him about Terminal City, about there being a place where other transgenics are living together in relative safety. Let him make his own decision." 

That was not a conversation Max was prepared to have. As they crossed onto Joshua's block, she shook her head stubbornly and insisted, "He's not ready yet." 

"Joshua's a grown man, Max. He's older than all of us. He's not your pet." 

"I didn't—" 

Alec cut her off. "Back at Manticore he took care of all the rejects who ended up in the basement. Now he's the one locked up in solitary, trapped in a cell waiting for someone to come take care of him." 

Max was taken aback by the bitterness she heard in his voice. "Alec—" 

"No Max, you're wrong on this one." They pulled up in front of the rundown house and Alec sat back. "You're robbing him of that all-important freedom you're always talking about and you don't even see it." 

She opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced by the look in Alec's eyes. Max wasn't sure she'd ever seen him so serious. He got off his bike, grabbing the bags from his handlebars and the back of his seat, and started moving away. 

Max couldn't let it end there. "He needs us, Alec." 

He paused, but didn't turn around. She heard a soft sigh precede his next words. "Just because we love him doesn't mean we're all he needs, Maxie." He continued up the steps, leaving her sitting speechless. 

She watched him disappear through the door, a feeling akin to anguish filling her chest. Was Alec right? Was she hurting Joshua by trying to protect him? Max couldn't know for sure. But she was absolutely certain that if she let him go and something happened to him, it would kill her. She shook her head once more and said firmly to no one, "Not yet. He's not ready." The sound of her words seemed to reassure her. She squared her shoulders and went up to visit Joshua. 

Arms heavily laden with contraband, Max walked into the dim halls of the dilapidated house. The sound of Joshua's animated voice drew her toward the kitchen. On her path, she passed by the living room and noticed Alec's colorful finger painting hanging over the dusty fireplace. As she entered the kitchen, she saw Alec casually straddling one of the kitchen chairs, his chin resting on his arms where they crossed on the back of the chair. All evidence of their recent disagreement was gone from his face and he seemed absolutely at ease. Joshua was standing in front of the chair, hugging Alec's bags to his chest. 

"Should Joshua make ham hocks tonight?" 

Alec sat up straighter and waved his hands by his shoulders in the universal sign of refusal. "Uh, no bro, that's okay," came his quick answer. "They're all for you." Max managed to suppress a laugh at the look of mild panic on Alec's face -- it surprised her a bit that there was anything that he wouldn't eat. But she must have made some small movement or sound because Joshua turned toward the kitchen door. 

"Hey Lil' Fella," he greeted her. 

"Hey Big Fella." 

A huge canine grin split his face as he noticed the bags in her arms. "Lil' Fella with more ham hocks!" His excitement was so radiant that Max imagined that she could see a tail wagging wildly in the air behind him. She put the bags on the table and went over to his side for a much needed hug. 

"Yep. I think Alec may have scored a year's supply for you." 

"Nah," Alec denied. "He's a transgenic, these will last him a month, at most." He rubbed his hands together. "And speaking of food, what's for dinner?" 

Joshua released Max and hurried to open the stove. "Lasagna. Found recipe in one of Father's old cookbooks. Except didn't have ground beef, so used little hot dogs instead." 

Alec nodded his head in approval, and Max said "That sounds great, Joshua." 

The dog-boy was wiggling with delight as he pulled the casserole dish out of the oven. His oven mitts were covered in cartoon dogs wearing aprons. They'd been a gift from Original Cindy. Max had no idea where her roommate had found them. Joshua carefully set the dish on top of the stove. The delicious aroma wafted through the kitchen. "Yummy!" 

Max glanced to the side and caught Alec studying her. The roguish glint in his eyes was making her nervous. "What?" 

"Nothing." A sly smirk was tugging at his full lips. "It's just I didn't realize you ate pasta outside of Logan's penthouse." He didn't even bother to dodge the smack to the arm that came his way. 

"Quit being such a smart ass and set the table." 

He looked to Joshua for support. "Now why would we sit at the table when there's a perfectly good couch sitting in front of that tv I scored for us?" He shook his head in mock sorrow. "I'm telling you, she learned this formal crap from stuffy Logan. It's such a shame." Joshua chuckled. Max fumed. 

"Shut up, Alec." 

"Now that wasn't very lady-like. What would grandpa – uh, I mean, Logan say?" Max was just about to lunge for him when her pager went off. She unclipped it from her belt, where it rested next to her new phone. Alec crept up next to her and read the phone number over her shoulder. He rolled his eyes. "Gotta give it to the old man, he does have impeccable timing." 

"Alec!" 

"What?" 

"Quit yapping and give me your phone." 

Alec raised an eyebrow at Max's outstretched hand. "I got you your own phone for a reason, you know." She ran her other hand gently over her cell before placing it on her hip and scowling at him. 

"Now, Alec." 

Alec rolled his eyes and reluctantly reached into the breast pocket of his leather jacket. "I'm guessing that you ran away before Manticore taught us the meaning of the word 'please'?" 

She snatched up his phone and started dialing before she answered. "Well, I had already learned enough to know how to kick your ass, so I figured I was good to go." She turned her back to him and started talking into the phone. "Hittin' you back…Yeah. We're at Joshua's….Does it have to be right now? Joshua's making dinner and…" She went silent for a moment as Logan apparently cut her off. She rolled her eyes at something he said. "Uh-huh. Fine…I won't…Yeah, I'm leaving now." She hung up without further ado, and turned to her curious companions. 

Joshua gave a pitiful whimper. "Max gotta blaze?" 

Her eyes were full of regret as she answered. "I'm sorry Big Fella, but I'm gonna have to skip out on dinner this time." 

Alec stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "What'd Logan want?" 

"Not sure. He'd only say that it was big and time sensitive." 

"Maybe I ought to tag along." 

Max shook her head. As much as she wanted to avoid seeing Logan alone, he'd been pretty explicit about her not bringing her sidekick. "Don't worry, I'll give you a call if it looks like it'll be any fun." 

He gave her a wry smile. "You're not just trying to weasel out of our little pool tournament, are you?" 

"You wish. I'll meet you at Crash later." She gave Joshua a quick hug. "And I'll come by tomorrow, Big Fella. So save me some lasagna." 

Joshua's grin was luminous. "Sure thing, Lil' Fella." 

When the front door slammed closed behind Max, Alec clapped his hands together. "Well, I guess it's just you and me, buddy. Why don't we dig in?" 

A short while later, the two guys were seated comfortably on the battered sofa watching music videos and making heaping servings of dinner rapidly disappear. During a commercial Joshua broke their companionable silence. 

"Alec?" 

"Yeah, big guy?" 

"Can Joshua tell you something…man to man?" 

Alec popped open a can of cola and raised it toward his friend. "Shoot." 

"Alec belong with Max." 

"You're right. We all gotta stick together, that's the plan," he said before taking a drink. 

"No. Medium Fella and Lil' Fella get busy. _That's_ the plan." As Alec choked and sputtered on his beverage, Joshua elaborated on his statement. "Max help Alec see what he can be. Alec help Max remember what she is." 

After a few moments, Alec was able to calm his coughing fit. "Buddy, once again I think these paint fumes are going to your head." He slapped a jovial hand on Joshua's shoulder. "What do you say we go take a refreshing jaunt through the sewers, huh?" 

"Not joking, Alec. Joshua has two eyes, can see whole picture." 

"How can you be serious, Josh? All Max and I ever do is argue with each other and get under each other's hides." 

"Life is challenge. Medium and Lil' Fellas help each other live life whole in a broken world." Joshua patted the X5 on the head then stood and walked out of the room, leaving Alec blinking on the sofa. 

Realizing that a straight answer seemed to be beyond the transhuman's abilities, Alec rolled his eyes and threw up his hands. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?" His bellowed query was met with silence. 

But not for too long. The big guy's head peeked back around the doorway. "Alec want seconds?" 

The younger man stared at Joshua for a heartbeat before yielding with a shrug of his shoulders. "Yeah, sure thing." He rose and followed his friend into the kitchen.

  


* * *

  


"Hey Logan, I'm here," Max called out her greeting as she entered the large penthouse. She made her way into the den where she found Logan talking on the phone. He held up one finger to her and continued his conversation. 

"She just walked in…Right away…Yeah, we'll be there in fifteen minutes." As soon as he hung up the phone he sprang out of his chair and practically did a little jig around her. 

"Woo-hoo! Max, I finally did it!" 

Max just arched an eyebrow at his antics. She was feeling more that a little cranky about having to leave Joshua, especially after that awful conversation with Alec. "You mind telling me what black market drugs you've been doing?" 

Logan paused in his celebratory dance. His brow furrowed as he stared at her. For a moment there she'd sounded just like Alec. 

After a few seconds of Logan staring and not saying anything, Max put a hand on her hip. "What?" 

"Uh, nothing. It's nothing." He shook his head, though he still looked mildly perplexed. 

"Ooo-kay. So are you planning on telling me what's so urgent I just had to rush right over?" The kookie smile split Logan's face again. Max fervently hoped he wouldn't resume that jumping around thing he was doing before. 

"Brace yourself, Max." Logan paused as Max leaned against his desk. 

"I'm braced. Go on," she said dryly. Once again she sounded too much like Alec for Logan's taste. But he wouldn't let that rain on his parade. He took a deep breath and let his absolute joy shine through his smile and his next words. 

"Max, I've found the cure."   
  


**TBC**


	3. The Animals Inside

** Chapter 3: The Animals Inside **

"Are you ready?" 

"As I'll ever be." 

Max stuck her arm out. The dark complected man wearing thick-rimmed glasses nodded and then bent over her with a syringe. The chill of his fingers seeped through his tacky latex gloves as he gripped her forearm. She sat and watched the slender needle disappear into the flesh at the crook of her arm. She hated needles, even though they didn't really hurt. The sting of this one barely registered in her brain. 

_After all, we were built to withstand pain,_ she thought. _Pain of all kinds._

She looked past the scientist to where Logan was waiting impatiently on the other side of the cheap motel room. He was pacing. Max was certain he would've been hovering if he hadn't been afraid of distracting the precious scientist. 

Her gaze returned to the syringe in her arm. She watched as the cure was slowly pushed into her vein. It all came down to this moment. The months of searching and anguish and worry that she might accidentally kill Logan with the barest of brushes, it was all coming to an end before her eyes. Max wondered how she was supposed to feel. How would a normal girl feel? She frowned. A normal girl would never have been able to carry a virus specifically targeted to someone else's DNA. It seemed as though her blood were starting to run cold from the needle's insertion point. She felt numb. 

A nasal voice brought her attention back to the man next to her, as he pulled the empty syringe out of her arm. "The serum will take twelve to twenty hours to neutralize the virus." 

Logan's response was laden with disappointment, "That long?" 

The scientist adjusted his eyeglasses. "It's possible that herÉuhÉunique chemistry might assimilate the cure more quickly, but I can't know for sure." He shrugged and snatched up the small duffle bag of money that Logan had placed on the table earlier. 

Max stood and pulled on her leather jacket. "I've carried the bitch for this long, what's another day?" She didn't look at either man. 

"Right." Logan nodded. "She's right." He held his hand out to the scientist. "Thanks Doc. I'll be sure to let Eyes Only know that he owns you one." 

The weasely man shook the proffered hand and said, "You do that." 

Logan turned to Max. "Ready to getÉ" He stopped when he realized that he was speaking to the air. She had already left the room without him. He gave the scientist a nervous smile and then made his own hasty departure. 

He found her standing next to his beaten up Aztek in the gravel-paved parking lot of the motel. She stood statue still and stared out into the distance. A small breeze was blowing her long, straight hair away from her face. Her hands were shoved into the pockets of her black leather jacket, and the light of the full moon made her golden skin appear very pale. Logan noticed that her exotic features were devoid of any expression or emotion. It made him nervous, but he cleared his throat and smiled through it. The car doors automatically unlocked when he pressed a button on his key chain. Max got in without a word. 

Logan followed suit, pulling himself into the driver's seat and closing his door. He glanced to his side. Max was still staring into the distance, only this time her gaze was through the glass of the windshield. He wracked his brain for something to say, but couldn't come up with anything. Instead, he took a deep breath and started the car, pulling out of the parking lot of the dingy motel, and heading back toward the lights of downtown Seattle. 

A thick silence reigned over the car. Logan couldn't help but notice how differently Max was acting compared to the last time she'd been virus-free. Even though that had been a temporary cure, she'd seemed so much more enthusiastic, so much less distant than she seemed at this moment. The crease between his brows deepened as he tried to figure out what had changed. 

From the passenger seat, behind a perfect Manticore mask, Max's mind was churning. The numbness was wearing off, and her emotions and thoughts were swirling in unsortable chaos. With this sudden appearance of the cure and an end to the virus, her world was tilting on an all new axis. She was relieved that the virus was finally gone. It had been a black cloud over her life for months. But, mixed in with that relief were weariness, uncertainty, and dread. Only recently had she managed to find a kind of fragile balance in her life and relationships. Now, her illusion of having some sort of control was splintering, and panic was encroaching. She felt vulnerable. 

"So, my place?" Logan's question seemed unnaturally loud over the cranky hum of his car. It brought Max's full attention to him for the first time since she'd been injected. 

She shook her head in response, the muscles across her shoulders tense. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea." At Logan's dejected expression, she rushed on, "You know, temptation and all that." Her eyes lowered to her hands resting in her lap. "I think we should just wait until we're sure the cure has kicked in." 

Logan tried to keep the disappointment from his voice. "Well, what about your bike? You left it in the penthouse." 

Max shrugged, her mind already returning to its introspection. "I'll come by before work tomorrow and pick it up." 

"Oh. Alright." That settled, Logan didn't know what else to say. They lapsed into another heavy silence. 

Now Max felt guilt join in on her turmoil party. She knew she wasn't being fair to Logan. After all, this is what they'd been waiting for, fighting for for so many months. She should have been happy along with him Ð enthusiastic even. But she wasn't, and she couldn't explain to him why. The ground beneath her seemed shaky, making her wary of taking a single step. 

The connection that she'd felt to Logan was still there. It was a bond born out of reciprocity that had grown into love. Yet, for as long as they'd known each other there'd been some reason for her to keep her distance, some type of circumstantial barrier that allowed her to keep parts of herself safe and secret. They were both just testing the waters that first year, figuring out the rules of their alliance. Eventually, they built both trust and friendship, and then something more. 

It was around that time that she'd seen what Tinga had with Charlie Ð despite all the secrets Ð and Max started to believe that maybe she could have a normal love life too. Of course, then the mission to take down Manticore went sideways and she was captured. 

It was the knowledge that she had Logan and something of a normal life waiting for her on the outside that had sustained her and given her strength while she was trapped in Manticore. In the dark of her cell, the memory of their budding relationship came to represent all those things about her and in her life that made her an individual and not just some automaton created in a lab. In her mind those memories came to mean everything simply because Renfro and the rest couldn't take them from her. She had wrapped it around herself and used it as emotional armor to keep her sane inside of that hell. For that, she owed Logan more than he might ever know. 

When she'd escaped Manticore to save Logan's life, she'd started to believe that she could recreate the happiness that she had envisioned having with him. Suddenly, there was the virus, a new barrier keeping Logan at arm's length, and this time it was physical and real, not just something in her head. And all these months with the virus had made her start to wonder if there weren't some larger, reason for this distance. She realized that somewhere deep down inside she had started to believe that they would never find the cure. 

Every muscle in her body was rigid with tension. Two of her knuckles cracked by themselves. She could have sworn the sound echoed in the car. She concentrated on loosening everything, on making her body relax into the passenger seat. She would not break down like she had last week at Logan's. She would not ever be that weak again. 

Max could feel Logan glancing at her from time to time. She didn't want to hurt him. She'd never actually had to tell him anything. He'd always just sort of stumbled onto the big information and then asked her to fill in a few of the blanks. But, it was the little details that were the real secrets. The things that she'd seen and felt and done, those were the important pieces, the things about her that he could never know, parts of herself that she would always have to keep from him because he wouldn't understand. There weren't many people in her life who would. 

"Does Alec remember anything from last week yet?" 

Startled, Max turned from the window to stare at the angled planes of his profile. "What made you ask that?" 

"Well, I was just putting together a mental to-do list and I remembered that the workmen will finally finish repairing my ruined windows tomorrow." That wasn't really what had made him think of Alec, but he couldn't tell her the truth. 

"OhÉyeah, send me the bill." 

"You're kidding me, right? I thought you were big on Alec learning some responsibility and how the real world works?" 

"I'm not gonna ask him to pay for something that he doesn't remember breaking, especially when it's partially my fault." She looked away from him. "I may be a bitch, but I'm trying to come correct," she mumbled to herself. 

Logan caught her words and sighed. An apology was on the tip of his tongue when the low buzz of a phone on vibrate barged into their conversation. Max immediately unclipped her new toy from her belt and answered it for the first time. 

"Go for Max." 

"You wouldn't be trying to renege on our pool game, now would you Maxie?" Alec's mischievous voice on the other end of the phone brought a smile to her face. A smile she let out unchecked since he couldn't actually see her. She could hear the commotion of Crash in the background. 

"You wish!" She caught Logan's frown out of the corner of her eye. "We'll have to do it another time though. I'm stillÉuh, tied up with that thing I had to do." 

She could practically hear his eyes rolling. "Don't tell me you're going on some crazy rescue mission without me." 

"Uh, nothing that exciting." She swallowed. "I really don't need backup. It's all good." There was a pause on the other end of the line. Max noticed the fading of background noise, as if Alec had turned his back on the party, or was hunching over the phone. 

His next question was soft, sober, and totally unexpected, "Are you alright, Maxie?" 

_Keep it together, Max._

She forced her normal mocking tone into her response, "I'm always alright. I'll see you tomorrow." Before Alec could express any more concern, Max hung up. Her blank face was back as she clipped the phone to her belt. 

"When did you get a cell phone?" It blended so seamlessly into the black of her clothing that he hadn't even noticed it resting on her hip. 

"Alec gave it to me today. A thanks for saving his ass last week." 

Logan snorted. "Let me guess, he stole it?" 

She shrugged and simply said "Not sure." 

He was confused by her answer and by the fact that she was being so neutral when it came to Alec. It wasn't like Max, who was usually so vocal about Alec's shortcomings. He considered asking her what was up, but he wasn't sure he wanted her answer. Instead, he changed the subject back to them. 

"Uh, you know, Max, the night is still young. Are you sure you don't want to spend a little time together?" He tried to think of an activity that would appeal to her. "We could go hang out at Crash." 

"No!" She had the horrifying vision of running into her friends and having Logan announce to them all that the virus was dead. The sensation of being trapped made her want to physically lash out, the need was almost overwhelming. But she pushed it down, and realized how she must have sounded to this man who loved her. "I mean, not tonight. I'm just suddenly really, really tired," she'd said. "I'm sorry." 

"I understand," Logan said, in an attempt to make them both feel better. "Probably too much excitement." An earnest smile forced itself over his sharp features. 

"Yeah, that's probably it." 

"Besides, we'll have all of tomorrow night and many more nights after that." 

"Yeah, I guess we will." She looked at him, but just couldn't seem to smile back. Before she could witness his smile fading, Max turned to stare out her window at the broken city passing by. 

Twenty minutes later, Max walked into her dark apartment and breathed a sigh of relief that Cindy wasn't home yet. She considered getting on her Ninja and heading to the Space Needle to get her head straight, but she hadn't been lying when she told Logan that she was feeling tired. Fatigue had come on her all of a sudden, making her thoughts even more jumbled and chaotic than they had been before. She couldn't seem to focus on completing one train of thought, and every thought seemed to carry heavy emotional weight. Her head was starting to throb just behind her eyes. She definitely needed a cat nap. A couple of hours' rest and she'd feel better. 

She didn't even bother removing her clothes before lying down on her bed facing her nightstand. A flash of white and faded violet caught her eye and she reached out to it. Her fingers stroked gently over fragile, crinkled petals. It was the flower that kiddy Alec had picked for her from that snobby bitch's garden. Max had allowed it to dry and now it rested on her table, a reminder of the time she'd spent with him. 

_I made a promise. A promise not to lose Alec._

But, she'd made other promises in the past. _To Brin._ She'd cried and she'd walked away. She'd promised Brin she'd come for her no matter what, and then she'd just chained her to that Manticore hell. To her nephew Case, _Tinga's son._ She'd promised that she'd get his mother back. But she was too late. She was too wrapped up in her own life. Images seemed to fly past her eyes. She'd failed so many people that she'd cared about in her life. _Where are Krit and Syl and the others?_ She'd never really tried hard enough. _Zack. _ There were promises that she should have made and times when she should have tried harder. _Ben._

Max closed her eyes and pushed the pain and the memories away into the back of her mind. 

She used to think it was easier before, when she just didn't give a damn about anything. But that was a lie, she'd always cared about something. Why did her life have to always be so complicated? She was a fighter, and yet fate kept throwing her into these situations that she couldn't fight her way out of. 

_Am I really choosing how to live my life? Where's my freedom? _

Deep down in the pit of her stomach fear was uncoiling like a newly awakened beast. It stretched and pushed at her consciousness. Like she was approaching the edge of some cavernous pit and she was afraid to look down. She tried to make her mind a blank, tried closing her demons back in their cages. She would beat this bitch, just like she's fought and destroyed every other obstacle in her life. With that last thought, Max fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

  


* * *

About mid-morning the next day, Alec strode into Jam Pony with a confident smile on his face. Having done a pickup in his sector on the way into work, he went straight to the dispatch desk to drop off the package. 

"Hey Normal, what's the good word?" 

"Good morning, Alec, my boy. I'm sorry to do this to you, but I've got a hot run to Sector 12. Since Missy Miss is late Ð again Ð I don't have anyone else." 

"Not to worry, Normal. Besides, I'm sure Max's excuse will be nothing less than spectacularly entertaining." He gave Normal his patented lopsided grin and shoved the new envelope into his messenger bag along with a couple others that needed to go to the same sector. 

"Be that as it may, she better get herself in here soon or she'll be making those excuses to the proprietor of another establishment. Mark my words." 

Alec chuckled. "I hear ya, boss." 

As he exited, the building the cheerful expression fell from his face. He couldn't explain it, but Max being late had him worried. It wasn't unusual at all for Max to be late Ð or to not show at all sometimes Ð but Alec's spidey-sense was tingling. He pulled out his phone and pressed 2. Her mobile number was already programmed into his speed dial. He didn't really have that many close friends. 

After a few rings the automated response kicked in. "This is Max. Keep it short." Even her voicemail gave attitude. 

"Uh, hey Maxie. Just wanted to make sure you had a good excuse to give Normal. I mean, if you get canned how do you expect to pay me after I win our bet? Hit me back." He hung up and took off on his runs. 

His drop offs in Sector 12 took up the rest of the morning. He tried calling Max again, but didn't get an answer. He didn't leave another message, though. Didn't want to pick up Logan's paging habits. It was well after lunch by the time he made it back to Jam Pony. He spotted OC on the bench between their lockers and headed straight for her. 

"Whazzup Baby Boo," she called out at his approach. 

"Hey OC. Sketch," he greeted the other messenger who was sitting on the bench as well. 

Sketchy grinned stupidly. "Hey my brotha. I was just trying to get details on Cindy's late night date after she left us at Crash." 

Alec smiled. "Oh yeah, how did the little rendezvous with your new mystery girl go?" 

"Original Cindy's new Lickity Chick is all that." OC raised one beautifully-manicured hand in testimony. "Believe me when I tell you that Little Suki knows how to satisfy a sistah." 

"Wait," Alec cut in, "did you just say Ð" 

"Yes I did. After she realized you were a typical man eatin' off of more than one plate, she decided that the grass was greener on my team's field. So, I sincerely thank you." 

"Damn, Alec," Sketchy lamented. "You coulda had a threesome with Suki and Marina, man!" 

OC reached over and hit the blonde upside his greasy head. "Fool, shut up." 

"So, uh, I guess you didn't talk to Max at all last night?" Alec's voice even sounded casual to his own ears. Good. 

"She was asleep when I got home and then this morning girl just would not get outta the bed. I tried to wake her up twice." 

Alec raised one expressive eyebrow at that. "You're kidding me. Miss I-have-shark-DNA-and-don't-ever-need-sleep-_ever_ was dead to the world?" 

"First time, she just rolled over without a peep. Second time, she growled at Original Cindy and threw a pillow. If the girl's gonna be like _that_, she can make her own damn excuses to the boss man." Alec laughed to cover his relief. He had begun to worry that maybe Max had gotten herself into something last night that she really couldn't handle. 

"Oh my god! Where's my camera?" Sketchy jumped up to find his equipment, as Cindy and Alec turned to see what had gotten him so riled up. 

Speak of the devil. Max had just stepped into Jam Pony. Her face was framed by a thick curtain of soft, wavy hair and her eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses. A blood red tank hugged the curves of her chest and stopped at her navel to reveal the toned flesh of her stomach. A black leather mini skirt sat low on her hips, pleats flaring as she strode down the ramp and showing off the strength of her lean thighs above knee-high black boots. A coat, also made of black leather, draped over her slender figure, flowing around her ankles while her hips moved to their own hypnotic rhythm. More than a few conversations broke off mid-sentence as she made her entrance. She looked like a wild thing that had just escaped its cage. 

Alec was at once more attracted to her and more wary of her than he'd ever been before. Max came closer and he raised his head and sniffed at the air. Her scent hit him and he felt a tightening in his crotch just as his proverbial hackles rose. A roil of instincts crashed through him while he stood there unable to decide which was the greater need: to fight, to flee, or to fuck. He gave himself a mental shake and fought to control these conflicting reactions that were threatening to overcome him. His confusion was almost palpable, but he knew two things for sure: Max was beautiful and Max was dangerous. 

"Wow, Boo!" Cindy's voice rang out from beside Alec. "You lookin' so hot ya makin' a girl sweat!" 

Very quietly, not taking his eyes off of Max, Alec whispered, "OC, get behind me now." 

OC looked at him askance, placing her hand on her hip and raising an eloquent eyebrow. "Say what?" 

"Now!" The unwavering command in his voice was unmistakable and had Cindy moving behind him before she knew what she was doing. She was getting a glimpse of the soldier Alec was born and bred to be. What the hell was he seeing in Max that had him reacting this way? 

Max kept walking until she was barely more than arm's length away from Alec. The hair on his arms stood up. She put a hand on her hip in a typical Max pose and smiled a sly smile at him. 

"You've been calling me all morning, so I thought I'd swing by and see if you wanted to come out and play. There's a shipment of rare originals coming in." She licked her rosy lips. "How about it, Alec. Wanna have some fun?" 

"I don't think that's a good idea, Max." He kept his tone carefully neutral. 

"You're disappointing me. I thought for sure I could depend on you for a little action. I know how you love a good heist." 

Alec glanced around. Max's new look was drawing too much attention. "This is not the time or place to talk about this. Why don't we go somewhere else?" He asked the question, but he didn't move toward her. He was waiting for her reaction, his instincts were shouting that he was treading a really fine and very precarious line. 

Sketchy chose that exact moment to appear. He gave a wolf whistle and snapped a shot. Alec couldn't grab him without causing a scene, he was too far awayÉand too close to Max. The lanky blonde lowered the lens and ogled her. 

"Damn. You are the hottest honey since the Pulse." Suddenly Max's fist shot out, sending Sketchy flying. His camera skidded to one corner as he hit the ground, unconscious at OC's feet. 

Alec closed the distance between himself and Max. "What the hell are you doing? You'll blow our cover," he whispered for her ears alone. He was careful not to touch her. 

She lowered her head to stare at him over the rim of her dark glasses, but the eyes that held his were not her normal chocolate brown. One had gone completely black as if the pupil had bled over the iris and white of her eye. In the other, the pupil was now an oblong slit resting in a sea of amber like the eyes of some great jungle cat. It took all of Alec's control not to take a step back. He knew that she would see any retreat as a sign of weakness. Weakness would make him prey to the predator standing in front of him. 

"What's the matter, Alec? You afraid of a little exposure?" The way she was looking at him made him feel like a piece of meat. Not the kind you tear and rip apart with your teeth, but the kind you want to lick, suck, and savor before you devour it completely. 

"Hey, hey, hey!" Normal's voice cut in as he approached them waving his clipboard, completely unaware of the possible danger. "What have I said about rough housing, Missy Miss? Besides that, you're late! So bip, bip, bÑ" Before Normal could get out the rest of his catchphrase he was pinned against the lockers, Max's hand locked firmly around his throat. His surprised exclamation came out as a barely audible squeak. 

"I heard you the first time, Reagan." She brought her face so close they were nose to nose. 

All around them the usual cacophonous activity of the bike messenger center skidded to a complete halt as the employees stopped to gape at the scene. Alec was next to her in an instant. He jerked her arm down before she crushed their boss's windpipe and spun her around to face him. She bared her teeth and literally hissed at him. The sound was as quiet as an intimate whisper. The hairs along the nape of Alec's neck rose with a prickle. He suddenly had the overwhelming urge to take a swipe at her Ð not enough to hurt her, but enough to get her attention and let her know that he wasn't cowed. 

Instead, he stood staring down at her, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides, and hissed back, "Not here." He wasn't entirely sure if he was speaking to her or himself. 

The smile she gave him was a little bit of sex and a whole lot of predatory challenge. "All right, Alec. Have it your way." She sniffed at him. "I'm sure we'll catch up to each other later." 

Max walked away and Alec watched her go. He made sure to stay between her and their friends. OC was now kneeling next to Sketchy's prone form. Alec stood stock still until Max disappeared around the corner. Then he dropped to one knee next to OC and Sketchy. 

"Oh my Lord," Normal said, rubbing at his neck. "It's finally happened hasn't it? She's finally snapped! Cindy, I thought you said she was getting professional help for these violent urges?" OC just rolled her eyes at him and kept cradling Sketchy's head in her lap. There was blood beneath his nose and on his cheeks. 

Alec did a quick check of the fallen man's vitals. He lifted an eyelid and checked Sketchy's pupils. No concussion. Alec's transgenic hearing caught the roar of Max's Ninja as it sped away. He brought his attention back to unconscious messenger. He took the opportunity while Sketchy was out to snap his friend's nose back into place. The sickening crunch brought Sketchy's eyes snapping open. 

"Sonovabeeatch!" The scream bounced off the lockers around them. 

Alec put a hand on Sketchy's shoulder. "You're alright, buddy." He turned to their boss. "Normal, could you get Sketch some ice?" 

"Sure thing, Rock Star." Normal rushed off to do the ex-cage fighter's bidding. When Alec turned back around he found OC staring hard at him, concern written all over her pretty features. 

"You gonna tell Original Cindy what the hell is up wit' her girl?" 

Alec sighed and shook his head. "I don't have a damn clue." He looked back over his shoulder to the exit. "But, I plan to find out." 

**TBC**


	4. Don't Feed the Tiger Shark

**Metamorphosis II: Aggression **

**Dedication: To Jewel, for her superhuman patience (this is still your Birthsixmonths…); and to Minnie, who nags like no other. Thanks guys.**

**Chapter 4: Don't Feed the Tiger Shark **

The afternoon was overcast and quiet outside of the Lake City Motor Shop. Whatever rays of sunlight managed to escape from behind cloud cover reflected brightly off of the store's floor-to-ceiling windows and the shiny chrome of the motorcycles lined along its front. A flock of white gulls perched on the awning underlining the building's sign. 

The serenity abruptly ended when the shop's owner came flying through the center window. Shattered glass rained over a few of the bikes, scratching the bright paints. The birds screamed and took off as the burly man cleared the line of motorcycles to land hard on the black pavement of the parking lot. After a few moments, he groaned and tried to roll over, proving to the crowd gaping from behind the destroyed window that he was still breathing. 

The front door of the shop opened, and a stunningly lithe figure in black calmly sauntered forth. Coal dark curls cascaded down over delicate, leather-clad shoulders. Two slender canisters of nitrous oxide were gripped in her hands. She walked past the man on the ground without a glance. 

A sleek black motorcycle sat in the parking lot awaiting her approach. She placed the canisters in the compartment beneath the seat before pulling back her long coat and kicking one leg over the bike. She settled onto her ride, a dangerous amount of thigh flashing beneath her short skirt. Just as she inserted the key into the ignition, the stunned audience seemed to find its tongue. One masculine voice rang out over the others. 

"We're gonna call the cops and you'll get yours!" 

She gave a feral smile over her shoulder, one perfect eyebrow raised over her shades. "They've gotta catch me first." The roar of the black Ninja ripped through their protests as she sped off. The birds and the crowd kept squawking long after she'd left.

* * *

Alec shrugged on his brown leather jacket as he exited the message center. It had been easy enough to smooth over the alarm of the folks at Jam Pony. Normal already thought that Max was finally having some sort of psychological breakdown. With a few hints dropped by Alec and Original Cindy about some extreme pressures in Max's personal life causing her a increasing amount of stress, Normal practically dropped the issue. He seemed extremely relieved that only one of his degenerate employees – namely, Sketchy – had been affected by Max's little episode. A little added smooth talking from Alec had gotten Normal to give him the rest of the day off to see about Max. Before leaving he cautioned OC to avoid the apartment that she shared with Max, telling her to go to Crash after work instead and he'd contact her there.

Automatically moving in the direction he'd heard Max take from Jam Pony, Alec kept his speed to an ordinary's brisk walk so as not to draw attention to himself. He walked without slowing past his bike where it rested against Jam Pony's wall. If he ever hoped to track Max, he was going to need something with more muscle than a ten-speed. Six blocks from Jam Pony he veered down a blind alley. After waiting a few minutes to make sure he wasn't followed, he quickly scaled the side of the building to its roof. He could make better time up above the streets and the crowds. He could even blur undetected across the roofs. Most people never bothered to look up anyway. 

While his senses were stretched to their fullest to catch any trace of Max, she wasn't what Alec was presently scanning the streets for. He was searching for the perfect vehicle, something that would allow him to follow Max wherever she went. Something that could keep up, but that would also give him the freedom to quickly go on foot if need be. It wasn't too long before that something caught his roving eye. 

_There_, Alec thought with satisfaction. He stopped in his tracks on the ledge of an abandoned apartment building, eyes zeroed in on his target. It was a twenty year old classic, a KTM 640 Duke II motorbike in mint condition. From the main street the bike was hidden from view, but not from above. It had green and black detailing, and looked as if the owner had decked it out with some really modern, top of the line additions. 

_The former owner, that is_, Alec thought with a smirk. He vaulted from his perch to land silently beside the bike. In less than a minute, he had the bike hot wired. He put on his riding gloved and dark sunglasses, and was on his way. But, to where? 

As a soldier of Manticore, Alec had been drilled in the correct course of action for every possible tracking situation known to man. The lessons had been hammered into him since he was able to walk. When he grew older, though, and started missions in the field, he learned that sometimes rote procedure just didn't apply. Sometimes the best thing to do was listen to the gut feeling he got, regardless of whether his feeling seemed logical. And, at this moment, something was telling him to head to Joshua's house. It was the same uneasy sense he'd gotten earlier when he wasn't able to get in touch with Max. Only this time, the red alert was focused on both Max and Joshua. 

Alec applied more gas to his new bike as he turned onto Main Street and headed toward the sector where Joshua lived. As he wove in and out of traffic he thought back to Max's behavior at Jam Pony, and his own reaction to her. Her very presence had set off a spark of recognition inside him. Several sparks, actually. His body had felt her near him, but not in a sexual way. Well, at least not entirely sexual. It was as if the wild thing that had stood before him had been calling to some deep part of Alec, and telling that part to come out and play. Alec wasn't entirely sure what would constitute play, and he wasn't exactly sure he wanted to find out. 

It wasn't just that he'd classified Max as a predator in his mind. Hell, every X5 was made to be a predator. What kind of soldiers would prey have made? Still, she'd been a mass of roiling, coiling energy barely contained within the body of the hottest woman he'd ever seen. And he'd smelled threat coming off of her in waves. Not a threat to him, but one to every ordinary, weaker human in her path. Somehow he'd known with a deep understanding that he was the only thing that could stand between the ordinaries in that room and the scare of their lives. Before Sketchy had stepped into the line of fire, there was a moment when Alec had sensed a balance between Max and himself. A heartbeat when they could have walked out of Jam Pony without incident. Only, the harmony had been extremely fragile, and Sketchy steamrolled right over it. 

About five miles from Joshua's house, Alec noticed a crowd gathered outside of the priciest motorcycle dealer in the city. Passerby were caught up in the spectacle of sector police, paramedics, and witnesses. There was a gaping hole in the large store front windows and glass all over the asphalt. One ambulance was just departing the scene. 

Alec came to an abrupt halt at the edge of the crowd. He sensed the faint lingering of Max's new scent. It surprised him that he could. The X5 sense of smell, while stronger than an ordinary's, was not the strongest of their enhanced senses. Yet, there it was, that strange bouquet – warm and musky like a lush jungle, but also cold and slick like the ocean, and beneath it all the familiar essence that was undeniably and particularly Max. He used his transgenic hearing to catch what people were saying to the police. 

"I've never seen anything like that." One witness gesticulated wildly. "It was like he didn't weigh anything to her, the way he went sailing through the air and out the glass." Well, that answered that question. How many motorcycle-obsessed transgenic females with bad attitudes could there be within the city limits? 

"Great, Maxie," Alec muttered. "That's just great." He gunned his engine and sped off around the crowd. Well, in any case he was headed in the right direction. He shook his head. Whatever was going on with Max, she'd clearly lost all of her marbles. He wasn't really sure what he was going to do when he finally found her. Not let her out of his sight, that was for damn sure. At the very least, he could act as damage control, maybe minimize their exposure. 

That brought Alec back to wondering what her condition could be. He was certain that the new scent she was emitting wasn't just pheromones. He hadn't had any carnal fantasies about Max in more than an hour. _At least she's not in heat…On second thought, I really wish that was Heat I keep smelling._

Even deep in the throes of Heat, Max wouldn't do anything to blow their cover. She'd spent half her life running and hiding, trying to blend in with the ordinaries. That she'd been so casually tossing that aside all day told him that he was dealing with a whole new animal. 

Alec pulled up in front of Joshua's. He cut off the engine and sniffed at the air. Her scent was there. He allowed himself a small smile and said, "Good to know I haven't lost my touch." 

As a matter of fact, Alec could smell her stronger here than he had all day, even standing in front of her at Jam Pony. He hoped that meant she was still in the house. He'd count it as a very lucky break if she were. Joshua always seemed to have a calming effect on her, on both of them. Maybe Alec would get the chance to find out what was going on with her without having to deal with any more broken noses. Although, being quite the realist, he knew he'd end up with a least two bruises. He smirked to himself. Max just couldn't stand to not touch him. 

Alec went to open the front door, but it was already slightly ajar. Startled and more than a little concerned, he quickly and silently slid his way inside. Stepping over the threshold was like walking in the wake of a tornado. Debris littered the foyer. As he moved further into the house, he saw bits of canvas and wood strewn across the floor. One of the walls had even been hit hard enough for some of the plaster to flake off and fall to the floor, leaving a gaping hole where it used to be. 

He did a thorough sweep of the entire house. Moving without a sound through the destroyed rooms, Alec wished he had a gun. It looked as if there'd been one hell of a fight. He was relieved when he didn't find any traces of blood. During his investigation, he noted that the basement door was barricaded from the outside by fragments of what used to be furniture. Someone or something was trapped down there. He didn't stop to check it out until he was certain that the rest of the house was free of any hostiles. Once he was sure it was safe – even going to far as to exit the house and sweep the perimeter – Alec approached the blocked basement door. 

"Max? Josh?" He spoke their names in a normal tone of voice so that only another transgenic would have been able to hear his call beyond the pile of splintered wood and ripped upholstery. He didn't have the time to risk releasing any unfriendlies. 

From beyond the door came a deep, but muffled shout. "Joshua here, Alec!" 

Immediately, Alec was clearing a path to the door with inhuman speed. "Hang tight, buddy." No sooner were his words spoken than he was at the door. It opened onto the stairway leading down into the basement. Joshua was half hidden by the shadows as he stood two steps beneath the landing. He was leaning against the rickety wooden banister, his long unkempt hair hiding most of his canine features. Alec reached out a hand toward his friend. Joshua flinched away with a small yelp of pain. 

Off of Alec's look, Joshua explained, "Hurt side when fell down the stairs." Alec stepped back to let him through the doorway. 

"What the hell happened, Josh?" 

The transhuman's answer was barely a whisper. "Lil' Fella say Joshua should get back in the basement." 

"Was White here?" Alec was immediately glancing around their surroundings again. 

"Not White." 

Alec looked back to Joshua. "Okay, then can you describe the bad guys?" 

"No bad guys. Just Max." 

"I'm a little confused here, Josh. You're saying that Max barricaded you in the basement for no reason?" 

"Lil' Fella saw Annie and then went crazy, smashing and ripping and destroying Father's house." 

Alec was becoming more confused with every response. "Annie?" 

Joshua gestured toward the one remaining discernable painting in sight. It was a portrait of a cocoa-skinned young woman with large, luminous eyes. The bottom half of her face was marred by the huge rip in the painting. When Alec glanced at the painting Joshua said, "My friend." 

"Shit. Joshua –" 

"She's blind, Alec," the older man's voiced boomed, cutting off the impending lecture. "No running. No screaming. Friend." The emphasis that he put on his final word allowed no room for argument. 

Alec scratched at the back of his neck before throwing up his arms with a sigh. "Well, why the hell not," he said, shrugging and flashing a wry smile. "I mean everything else just keeps getting weirder and weirder, right?" Joshua just grunted in response. Alec's face went serious as he reached out and gently touched a nasty scratch marring Joshua's cheek. "Max did this?" 

The large man ducked his head. "Joshua didn't fight back. Didn't want to hit Lil' Fella. It was wack." 

Alec sighed again, dropping his hand. "The girl has gone wild -- and not in a good way." 

"Something very, very wrong with Max," Joshua agreed. "Doesn't smell right." 

Alec nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that, too." He moved to Joshua's uninjured side and put the larger man's arm over his shoulders. He began to help him over to the couch, which was the only relatively untouched piece of furniture left. 

"How long has she been gone?" 

Joshua thought for a moment, glancing out one of the windows to gage the change in light. "Probably two hours or a little more," came his final estimate. 

"That long?" Alec's voice was filled with his surprise. "But, I can still smell her." 

"Anger smells strong. Lil' Fella was very angry with Joshua." 

"It'll be alright, big guy. We'll work it out, okay?" 

"We gotta find her, that's the plan." 

"Not exactly, buddy. The plan is for me to find Max and for you to get somewhere safe." 

Joshua growled as he stood at his full height to tower over the X5. "I'm not a child, Alec. Have a right to help Max." 

Alec stepped away from Joshua until they were standing face to face. He wasn't facing an innocent and naïve genetic anomaly with a big heart. Standing before him was the first of them all, the eldest brother of the transgenic race, and the only one who remembered the man who gave them all life. 

The X5 locked eyes with his friend and said, "You're hurt, Joshua. You'll only slow me down." His voice held the same callous honesty he would have used with someone of equal rank in the field. "I need to find Max fast. Understood?" 

The older transgenic solemnly regarded him for a moment before nodding once. "Yes, Alec. Joshua understand." 

"Good." Alec gently pushed his friend down onto the sofa. "Now let's get you patched up and mobile." 

Twenty minutes later, Alec had tightly bound Joshua's ribs and bandaged his cuts. It was time to leave Sandeman's house. It was time for Joshua to make a home of Terminal City. Alec had made the decision as he tended Joshua's wounds. The rundown house Joshua had been living in since Manticore burned to the ground was too easily compromised. It wasn't just Max's recent jaunt to the dark side that had Alec concerned for the big guy's safety. Alec remembered the fear that had gripped within his chest when he thought that White might have gotten a hold of Joshua. Physically Joshua might be imposing in his strength and size, but he was too much of a gentle soul. It scared Alec as much as he guessed it normally would Max, though he would never admit that to her. 

He'd drawn Joshua a rough map of the sewage passages that headed toward the toxic wasteland. Sometimes it really paid to have the genetic encoding for a perfect, photographic memory. He had every confidence that the transhuman would find his way there with no problem. Worst case scenario, he's keep to the sewers until he scented a large group of their kind. Alec glanced back into the shadows just behind the door at Joshua looming over him. 

"Put up your hood, Big Fella." Joshua complied and followed Alec outside. Using his telescopic sight, Alec scanned the surrounding area to make sure no one was watching them. Then he lifted the manhole cover on Joshua's street as if it weighed nothing at all. The larger man lumbered down into the darkness, looking back up at Alec at the last moment. 

Alec gave him a mock salute and a cocky grin. "Alright buddy, you know what to do. I'll come find you in Freakville later, okay?" 

"Only after Medium Fella find Max. Bring Max to Terminal City, that's the plan." 

"Yeah, Joshua. That's the plan."

* * *

The Sector 9 marketplace was overflowing with disheveled bodies. They moved to and from rickety stands where vendors also dressed in poor fashions hawked their wares. In a broken world, the shoddy bazaar was one-stop shopping for all one's Post-Pulse needs – legitimate or otherwise. Once Alec had seen Joshua safely into the sewers, he'd headed here in search of one of his seedier contacts. He was hoping the man might give him word on the shipment of rare originals Max had mentioned to him earlier.

It was in the nature of the marketplace that the "shops" were constantly changing locations, as vendors lost buyers or suppliers. Oftentimes, vendors moved because they had been shut down by the sector police for contraband possession and needed to reopen in another spot to stay under the law's radar. Consequently, it was taking Alec some time to locate his contact. He was getting antsier and antsier with each passing moment. He wasn't a patient man in the best of circumstances, and his current needs were making him even less so. He had just crossed the road to search the second half of the open market, when he caught a phrase that made his ears perk. 

"Man that's freaky…" 

Alec glanced over his shoulder, but he was too far into the stalls. All he could see beyond the press of people was more people. As he pushed his way back through, more gasps of shock and revulsion wafted to his ears. Suddenly he could see what they were pointing at. A figure was shambling down the road hunched over with hood drawn up. 

_Too short. Too stocky. Not Josh._ As if to confirm Alec's thoughts, the figure turned his face giving Alec a glimpse of pale, rodent features below a broad brow. The transhuman turned away again, continuing on his path. He was heading for the barrier to Sector 8, which was most definitely not in the direction of Terminal City. Alec glanced away from the man and toward the gate where blatant signs read 'No Passage'. The transhuman pulled the fence apart anyway, setting off the alarm system. As he walked though a hoverdrone flew over his head. He stopped beneath the contraption's vocal command. 

Alec searched for some way to help the guy without blowing his cover. The crowd was growing, increasing the number of unacceptable witnesses. His eyes lit on a car sitting idle not twenty feet from the fence. White was in the drivers seat. But he wasn't doing anything, he wasn't reaching for his gun, he wasn't calling for backup. He was just sitting there, watching the drama unfold with mild interest. Alec took a step back, putting a rather large, bearded man between himself and White's line of sight. Getting captured by White would be just the perfect topping to his day. 

Sirens leant their screams to the alarm's cacophony. Within moments, the sector police had the transhuman completely surrounded. There was a tick in Alec's jaw as he assessed the impossibility of the situation. There was no way he'd be able to execute a clean escape plan with these conditions. He glanced up at the hoverdrone still hanging above the action. If he got involved at this point, there was a very slim chance that they'd both be able to escape, and an absolute certainty that Alec would expose himself and every X-series along with him. Those weren't acceptable odds. It looked like he'd be going on a rescue mission later...again. 

The cops pulled their firearms and began barking orders. "Freeze! On your knees freak!" 

The man just stood there, not obeying, but not attacking either. His stance was more wary than defensive. Alec could tell that he had not been raised as infantry, or taught military fighting. More than likely he was one of the worker drone anomalies that had been kept in the basement back at Manticore. Nevertheless, the transhuman should have been able to assess a no-win situation. He should have obeyed. 

_What the hell is he doing? _The question was a shout inside Alec's mind. He watched the cops approach, still yelling commands. _Get down_, thought Alec. Suddenly, a baton was swung to the back of the man's knee. When that didn't force him down, the three closest cops all began to beat him. Alec's fists clenched in impotent rage at his sides. 

"Damn it, just get down," Alec whispered desperately. Then the transhuman shoved one policeman into the fence. "Shit." 

A second policeman was lifted from his feet and sent sailing through the air. Alec was moving through the crowd, about to do something rash, when the police opened fire. The first bullet took the transhuman in the chest and seemed to stun him. But then another bullet hit him. And another, and another, until, body riddled with sector police ammunition, he finally fell to the ground. 

Alec stood less than five feet from the fence. He'd been paralyzed, his heart pounding as he watched one of his kind gunned down in broad daylight. All he could think while it was happening was that it could have been Joshua. That thought scared him more than he would have imagined. 

The cops got up the courage to step closer to the dead man. The crowd pressed against the fence and made more comments about 'the freak'. To Alec's ears came the sound of an engine turning over. He looked back toward the inconspicuous sedan in time to see White slowly pull away. He wasn't sure what game the Familiar was playing, but he was positive that it wouldn't be good for transgenics. 

It was a puzzle for another time. He still needed to find Max. And the day was running out. 

Alec faded into the pressing background of bodies until he disappeared. 

**TBC**


	5. Where the Wild Things Are

**Chapter 5: Where the Wild Things Are**

Night had fallen on the city of Seattle. The darkness was heavy and thick with the damp promise of rain. The streets and sidewalks were crowded with the normal Friday night traffic. Alec deftly wove a path amidst the cars. He moved along at breakneck speed with the wind whipping his hair back from his brow. His dark shades were firmly in place, protecting his eyes from the grit of city air. Behind the dark lenses his eyes scanned the night for any trace of Max. 

He was finding it hard to track her on an instinctual level simply because he couldn't tell what the hell was going on in her head. His underworld contacts hadn't helped very much. Every scrap of information had led him to either a dead end or a trail that was barely lukewarm with her passing. The whole day Alec had felt always a few crucial steps behind in a race to just keep up. And, although he didn't know what exactly was happening to Max, he had the distinct and disquieting feeling that time was running out – for both of them. 

Beneath the rumble of the motorbike, the smaller buzz of his mobile phone came to Alec's sensitive ears. He immediately pulled over and drew the phone out of his leather jacket. 

"Yeah," he answered with his usual curt word. A petulant sigh came through the receiver. 

"I'm bored." 

At the sound of the familiar feminine voice, he sat up straighter. "Max?" 

"It's time to play, Alec. Meet me at Savage Garden." 

"Wha—" The line went dead. Alec threw up his hands and spoke to the passing traffic. "Oh sure. She's bored. That explains the psychosis." He gunned his engine and drove recklessly out into oncoming traffic. He paid no attention to the outraged drivers around him as he used speed to release some of his frustration. 

Even with breaking all legal speed limits it still took Alec a full twenty minutes to get to the roughest sector in Seattle. Surrounded by abandoned and condemned factories, Savage Garden was a gutted warehouse that served as an open dance space. The expected storm had arrived during Alec's drive, soaking him and the streets. But the rain did nothing to dampen the unmistakable pulsing of tribal beats that echoed among the tightly packed buildings of the seedy district. Nor did it deter the crowds waiting to get into the club. Then again, if the very high risks of mugging and general assault didn't keep them out of the neighborhood, a little rain wasn't going to send anyone running. 

Alec had no intention of waiting in line with the masses. Especially given that he was damn sure psycho-Maxie wasn't a patient woman. She must have found an alternate entrance, so he would too. He hid his bike a few blocks away from the club – no sense in leaving his stolen property out in the open to get jacked by someone – and then approached the warehouse from the back. He crept through the dark alley, effortlessly and unconsciously keeping to the shadows. A back door to the club slammed open and a club employee emerged hauling several large and unwieldy garbage bags. It seemed Lady Luck hadn't totally abandoned him after all. While worker approached the dumpsters lining the back wall of the warehouse Alec slipped inside unnoticed. 

He moved swiftly through a dim hallway that ended at the very rear of the club beside one of the many long bars that lined the walls. Alec immediately dilated his pupils so that the darkest corners of the club were exposed to his sight as if fully lit. Unfortunately, only a few seconds passed before the harsh flashing of the strobe lights that spun upon the rafters of the warehouse started to affect him. It felt like daggers were being directed into his skull through his eyes. His eyes reverted to day vision. He would have to rely on his other senses and his instincts to find Max in this maelstrom of writhing bodies. 

The air inside the club was drenched with the scent of human sweat. Dancers moved one against another oblivious to the heat and damp. The odor of hundreds of humans masked Max's presence from Alec. But he knew she was there somewhere amidst the crowd. He didn't know how he knew, but he did. After a few moments he moved out into the rhythmic sea that covered the floor of the warehouse. He moved with predatory grace. The bodies around him were merely environmental obstacles in his mind. His eyes moved rapidly, scanning over the landscape. But there was no sign of her. 

As his search continued, Alec thought he was catching small glimpses of her. He would move toward a glimmer of slender shoulders or a flash of long dark hair only to lose the his target again. He'd been over every inch of the club and was becoming increasingly frustrated. That frustration translated into a feral glint in his eyes and a barely suppressed growl that wanted escape from deep in his chest. He was practically vibrating with barely contained volatility. The ordinaries around him instinctively opened paths for the predator in their midst. 

Suddenly, the hair at the nape of his neck stood on end. He whipped his head around just as the sea parted on the other side of the warehouse to reveal the woman he'd been searching for. She was a force of animal magnetism moving in the middle of the norms. Like moths to a flame, men and women turned towards her as she danced. Her hips undulated to the pounding beat, her arms, raised above her head, swayed to the electronic melody. Alec was struck by the sight of her slender fingers gloveless, naked beneath the flashing lights. Damp from the rain, her thick mane fell below her shoulders in face-framing waves and ringlets. She was no longer wearing her dark sunglasses, but her eyes were closed against the glare of the strobe lights. 

In an instant his clear view of her closed as bodies surged back around her. He could have howled then. He pushed his way through the crowd as quickly and forcefully as possible. It took all his discipline not to draw attention to himself or Max by blurring or throwing people out of the way. When he finally reached his destination she was nowhere in sight. He knew that she wouldn't be, just as he knew that she'd been aware of him watching her dance even though her eyes had been closed. This was clearly all a game to her. One that he was getting really tired of playing. 

_Look up_, the thought came unbidden to Alec's mind. His gaze flitted across the ceiling of the warehouse. Up above the rafters, beyond the colored brightness of the strobe lights, a shadow crouched at one of the windows lining the top of the walls. Before he could zoom in, the figure disappeared through the glass. 

_Damn it, Max._

There was no doubt in his mind of who the silhouette belonged to. Fighting alongside her for so many months had made her body's movements almost as familiar as his own. Besides, who other than a transgenic would consider a window stories above ground an acceptable exit? Alec made a beeline for the front exit. It was closer than going out the way that Max did. 

Outside the rain had become a torrential downpour, so much so that the line of waiting club-goers had finally dissipated. The bouncers had also fled, abandoning their posts for the shelter of the warehouse. Ignoring the weather, Alec stood absolutely still and concentrated on extending his hearing to his utmost ability. He filtered out the sounds of rain and thunder around him in an attempt to get a clue to Max's direction. Very few moments passed before he heard it: the faint but unmistakable, meaty sound of fist hitting flesh trailed by the low pitch of grunts. 

Blurring through the deserted streets, Alec followed the sounds of fighting. They led him around the corner of the warehouse, down four blocks, then to the right toward the docks. He finally found himself facing down a long alley, partially bisected by a rusted-out old car that looked like its better days had been years before the Pulse. Intermittent lightening barely penetrated the blackness of the confined space, and then only with small patches of misty illumination. Just beyond the forsaken vehicle a bloody scene played out in the shadows. 

Even in the darkness, there was no mistaking the slender hellcat punching, flipping, and kicking her way past her challenger's guard. Alec scanned the area for other possible attackers. There was one body lying still atop a dumpster, its pale hair glowing murky-silver in the obscure light. By the lithe figure, it was clear that the body was a woman. He could tell she was alive by the minute rise and fall of her chest. He turned his attention back to the fight. Max's opponent was facing away from Alec. Only the stranger's build revealed that Max was fighting a man. A blow to the head whipped the man's face around, but, even with his enhanced eyesight, Alec couldn't make out his features through the blurring rain. 

Her opponent was good, super-humanly so. One of White's creepy Familiars, perhaps? No, Alec knew this fighting style. After all, he'd been trained in it since the moment he could walk. Plus, judging from the stranger's speed, agility, and apparent level of expertise, he was an X5. What the hell would make Max fight another transgenic, let alone one of the same series? Alec grimaced as he remembered the numerous times Max had set about physically assaulting _him_. Then again, there was no way that this new X5 could possibly know how to annoy Max as well – or in as many ways – as he did. 

Maybe this guy was some sort of defective or a rogue? Alec had a suddenly overwhelming need to lend Max a hand, but two things stopped him. First, she was kicking the other guy's ass. Her style wasn't anything that the other transgenic was used to. He was looking to defend against a standard, Manticore-trained X5 offense and Max was fighting well outside that box. She was keeping him off guard and off kilter, and he was having a hell of a time regaining either. Second, she was grinning. Alec realized that she was toying with her opponent, like a cat with a trapped mouse. And just like in such a contest, the outcome of this fight was predictable. 

Alec found himself admiring Max's ability and the sheer beauty and ease of her movements. She whipped her leg up and around, snapping her opponents head back again and forcing him to retreat a few steps. Her coat billowed out behind her as she moved forward to deliver a combination punch to his chest and torso. The falling rain was stained pink where the blood from his mouth flew. Max dropped low and swept one leg out in a semicircle, a mini tidal wave splashing up in its wake. Her opponent avoided the maneuver by pulling himself into a back flip. But Max was quicker than Manticore could have ever imagined, standing before he could complete his somersault. With a solid roundhouse kick to the chest, she sent her opponent sailing down the alley to land in bone-crunching heap on the hood of the dilapidated car. 

In the blink of an eye, she was standing on the car straddling him. She grabbed the stunned transgenic's jacket and hauled him closer. A growl pushed its way past Max's rosy lips as she reared back, hand raised to deliver what Alec was sure would be the killing blow. That knowledge spurred him into action. He blurred toward the car, launching himself into the air at the last possible moment. His shoulder connected with Max first, followed by the full weight of his body. They rolled away from her downed opponent in a tangle of limbs. 

Alec immediately came to his feet and into a defensive crouch. He fully expected Max to turn her attack to him. But she just stood there with one hand on her hip and her head cocked to the side, alien eyes gazing at him. 

"I knew I could get you to dance." There was laughter in her voice. 

Before Alec could process her words he heard an all too familiar airborne whir. The dark disk of a hoverdrone came into view against the darker backdrop of the night sky. He watched the surveillance craft capture images of Max. 

"Oh, that's just great," he groaned. But, before the hoverdrone turned to get him within its scope, gunshots rang out in rapid succession. Alec's hazel eyes jerked down from the sky to behold a vision that struck him speechless. One hand was on her hip, the other steadily gripped a shiny Glock 9mm gun, which she used with proficient and precise marksmanship. She was smiling the most amazing smile he'd ever seen. Gone was the usual bad ass bitch attitude that usually laced her grins. In its place was an expression of pure, mischievous joy. 

Max emptied the entire clip and the hoverdrone came crashing to the ground in the space between them. Alec's breath left him in a rush as her hand moved between her legs reaching up under her skirt to remove the extra clip strapped high on her inner thigh. She calmly tucked the gun into the waistband of her miniskirt and pulled her shades out of her coat pocket, placing them on her face. 

Finally he found his voice, "Max…" 

"Alec." She smirked. Then she blew him a kiss, turned, and blurred away. Alec was just starting after her when a faint utterance brought him up short. 

"494?" 

Alec whirled around to take a closer look at Max's victim. His eyes widened in shocked recognition and he took a step forward. 

"531?" 

The defeated, dark-haired transgenic choked on humorless laughter. "They call me Biggs now." He grunted in pain as he managed to push himself to a sitting position on the roof of the car. 

For a moment Alec was torn between going after Max and helping the beaten X5. Max had certainly done a number on the guy. The rain was washing away the blood from numerous abrasions on his face, but one eye was swelling shut and there was a livid bruise developing across his jaw. Alec inwardly winced at the thought of what injuries Biggs's clothes were hiding. It took a lot to damage one of them enough to leave a mark. 

At the very least, Max had proven that she could hold her own – and that she had no compunction about using more than necessary force to do so. Alec wasn't even sure that White would be able to slow down the new Max. Besides, even if Alec hadn't felt some sort of comradeship toward Biggs, leaving the man defenseless and out in the open of the alley would be risking exposure for all of them. 

Decided, he strode over to the bleeding transgenic and offered the man a hand. A wry smile tugged at his lips despite the situation. It seemed that his role and Max's had been reversed as he'd spent most of his time today cleaning up her messes. 

Biggs waived Alec away. "I'll be alright. Help Cece." With a nod he indicated the woman still lying unconscious on the dumpster. Alec nodded back and changed direction. Once by Cece's side, he did as thorough and efficient an assessment of her injuries as he could given their current field conditions. He knew Biggs had come up behind him by the sound of labored breathing. 

"What's her status, 494?" 

"Alec." He lifted one of the blonde's eyelids. "Her pupils are dilated. Probably has a mild concussion. That left leg's broken in two places. Bone came through the skin, but missed the femoral. Her blood loss is steady but slow. Not fatal." He took the belt that Biggs offered and used it as a tourniquet to cut her bleeding. "Why the hell were you fighting Max?" 

"The female? Fuck if I know! Cece had point when we came around the corner. Next thing I know she's fully engaged with an unknown X5. The whole thing was over in less than two minutes. I would have thought the hostile was in heat, except that my nose was telling me different and this Max attacked me after Cece was down." 

Alec mulled that over silently as he gently hoisted Cece up on one shoulder. He turned to look at the other man. "We need to take cover. I give it ten minutes tops before some sector cop comes to investigate that downed hoverdrone. Have you got a place nearby?" 

Biggs shook his head. "We just arrived in Seattle. Headed for a place called Terminal City. A lot of units – at least what's left of them – have regrouped and set up camp there." 

Alec raised an eyebrow, but only asked, "Vehicle?" 

"On foot." 

Alec squinted up into the storm. "Alright then. Take the high ground." He jerked his head behind them and continued, "About three blocks away there's a blind alley where I hid my bike. You won't need a key. Terminal City is about 25 klicks north-northwest." 

"What about Cece?" 

"I seriously doubt that you're in any shape to balance her and handle two wheels. I'll take her. I know Seattle's sewer system pretty damn well…unfortunately. I'll make better time on foot down there than up here." 

Biggs looked anxious. "Are you –" 

"Here's my sector pass," Alec cut off the protest, unclipping the badge from his belt and shoving it into Biggs's hand. "We'll meet you there." Biggs knew an order when he heard it, so he simply nodded in resignation and began climbing up the nearest fire escape as quickly as his injuries would allow. 

Alec didn't stick around to watch the other man disappear over the roof of the building. He was already moving toward the next block where he saw an elevated storm drain similar to the one he and Max used when they were searching for the Gossamer. He lifted the heavy grating and began to descend the ladder. The shaft was large enough that he was able to maneuver himself and Cece with minimal effort on his part and with minimal jostling of the unconscious woman. He touched down at the bottom of the sewer with a thick splash. 

"And here I was starting to miss the feeling of sludge in my shoes." He shifted Cece's weight more securely on his shoulder and blurred toward Terminal City.

* * *

Alec grunted as he climbed the last rung of the ladder to the surface of a parking garage. Cece was dangling below him. This exit from the sewer was much narrower than the one he had chosen for their entrance. As a result, he'd had to hold onto Cece by her wrist, her body trailing behind his as he pulled her up and out of the steel and concrete tube. Once above ground, Alec quickly replaced the unconscious woman on his shoulder. He chose a direction at random and began walking at a brisk pace, knowing that he'd eventually encounter another transgenic here inside Terminal City. 

_At least it stopped raining._

He went a full ten steps before he heard the pumping of shotguns. From the sounds he discerned that there were two challengers, one at his back and the other to his right. 

"Don't move," came a gruff voice from the man behind him. The second man at Alec's side moved out of the shadows to face him head on. He had pallid skin that was nearly hairless, except for a few wispy strands of white hair that hung on his malformed skull. There seemed to be some sort of fleshy mass on the right side of his head that was banded over by the black strap attached to an oversized monocle. Alec couldn't begin to imagine what was in this guy's DNA cocktail. 

"Well, it looks like I'm in the right place." 

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." It was the speaker behind him again. Alec took a step to the side and angled his body so that he could see both of the sentries. The speaker was a cigar-chomping, lizard-man dressed entirely in desert fatigues. 

"I'm X5," Alec declared. "I've got an injured soldier here." The pale sentry slowly lowered his weapon, but the lizard-man kept his stock still and trained on Alec. 

"Oak Street is two klicks thataway," he responded and jerked his head to the right. "Your kind are pretty fast. Shouldn't take you too long." 

"Sarcasm, how refreshing," Alec muttered under his breath. "Relax, buddy," he said a bit louder. "Put down the shotgun and get a medic." 

"You two don't belong here." His voice was cold and decisive. Alec's jaw visibly ticked as he clenched it to keep from howling in frustration. Less than an hour ago he'd had Max standing in front of him and he'd had to let her go. Now he was looking down the barrel of a shotgun while time ticked by and Cece bled on his jacket. 

"Next time I ask you to lower that shotgun it won't be nicely," Alec said very quietly. The tension spiked dangerously. 

That was the exact moment a new friend decided to make an appearance. 

"Oh, hey Alec!" A grayish, vaguely rodent face accompanied the cheerful salutation. The newcomer popped up almost exactly between Alec and his hostile challenger. 

"Luke." The X5 gave the smallish transhuman a slight smile. 

Luke smiled back, pleased that Alec remembered his name. He patted the barrel of the shotgun still pointed at Alec's chest. "Guys, he's alright. He and his partner Max saved my hide today." Luke paused and tilted his head to the side, staring at the woman on Alec's shoulder. "That's not Max." 

"No, it's not. Can you get a medic?" 

"You got it, Alec." Luke looked from one sentry to the other. "Take 'em to Central, guys. I'll be back in a jiffy." With that, Luke jogged away. 

The pale fellow with the monocle nodded at Alec. "Follow me." 

Alec nodded back and shifted Cece so that he was carrying her in both arms across his chest instead of on his shoulder. Since they were in relatively friendly territory Alec didn't need to worry about keeping his hands free for defense and the new position was better for Cece's wound. He could hear Lizard-man grumbling faintly behind him. 

Alec's guide spoke up. "I'm Dix. That's Mole." 

"Pleasure," Alec responded with a wry smile. He took a minute to look around as they walked. Condemned buildings rose starkly into the night sky above them. Behind the wooden planks used to board up windows were glimpses of jagged glass like thin, sharp icicles. As he scanned over the buildings he noticed moonlight reflected in a slight variation of color that suggested movement. He focused his eyes and saw that it was the lens of a rotating camera. The residents of this forsaken district of Seattle were more organized than he'd expected. "So what's the deal with Oak Street?" 

"Well, it's sort of every freak for himself out here," Dix answered. "There are about ten different groups holed up in TC. Everyone tends to stick with their own kind. Freaks with freaks, X's with X's." 

"And we like it that way." Mole pushed his way past the other two and stomped into the large building just ahead of them. Alec rolled his eyes – a trait he most definitely picked up from Max – and followed Dix into Central. 

Once inside the building, Alec noticed a bank of television monitors and computers on a platform raised a low story above the main floor. Most of the monitors were displaying the video feed coming in from the surveillance cameras placed around the neighborhood, but a couple showed programs from various local networks. There was a quiet buzz of conversation coming from the transhumans and anomalies scattered in various small groups throughout the room. They came in all shapes and sizes. Some clearly showed their mix of animal DNA. Others could have passed for one of the X-Series, except for the errant pointy ear, odd shade of skin, or razor-sharp teeth. Several stopped in mid-sentence when Alec walked in and glanced his way with more curiosity than hostility. 

"Medium Fella!" The jubilant bark startled several of the transhumans standing in a recessed room off to the right of the main entrance. The large, lumbering figure paid them no attention as he made his way toward the X5. 

"Heya Josh." Alec smiled at the big guy as Dix led him over to a relatively clear table toward the back of the floor. He placed Cece on top and tried to keep his voice nonchalant, "You make it here okay?" 

Joshua nodded. "Just followed nose to new friends." 

Dix quietly asked, "You two know each other?" 

"Old friends," came Alec's answer. 

"Where's Lil' Fella, Alec?" 

"I dunno." 

"You don't know?" 

"I lost her." 

"You lost Max?" 

Alec sighed. "It wasn't entirely my fault, Josh. She pulled a gun and shocked the shit out of me." 

"But, Lil' Fella doesn't use guns. Doesn't like guns." 

"Yeah well, Maxie Version 2.0 doesn't seem to have a problem with them." He loosened the belt on Cece's thigh and rechecked her vitals. 

"X5 alright?" Joshua asked, looking at the wounded woman. 

"She will be once the medic gets here and gets some blood into her." 

On cue yet again, Luke arrived with a female that Alec assumed was the medic. She had large luminous, almost neon blue eyes, fangs framed by naturally blood red lips, and disheveled auburn hair that was pulled haphazardly back from her face. They carried a litter between them and she had a medkit hanging by a strap from her shoulder. Just behind them, practically stepping on Luke's heels, came Biggs. 

"Found another one of you guys," Luke indicated Biggs with a jerk of his head. "Said he was looking for you." 

"Hey man," Biggs said a bit breathlessly, "Your bike's just outside the southern perimeter fence." He took Alec's sector pass from his pocket and handed it back. 

"Cool." 

Alec briefed the medic, who introduced herself as Eve, on Cece's condition and then moved aside to let her make her own assessment. Eve's hands moved gently but deftly over the X5's body while Biggs hovered over her and the others stood nearby. 

"I see everyone's suddenly making chummy-chummy with the X-series." Mole made a point of shouldering none too gently through the group. "Maybe now we can all be one big, happy, freak family. You know, build a fire and sing camp songs." He blew a large dank cloud of cigar smoke at them all and stalked off to polish his shotgun near the television monitors on the platform. 

"He's a real charmer," declared Alec. 

"Don't mind Mole," said the monocled Dix. "His life's happiness depends on his being grumpy." 

"We usually just ignore him," came the chipper interjection from Luke. 

"Doesn't that make him grumpier?" Joshua asked. 

Luke shrugged. "Who can tell the difference?" 

Alec turned back to Eve, noticing her close examination of Cece's leg. "I take it you don't have a radiology lab at your fingertips." 

"Nah. We'll cut her open and set the bones." She smiled, showing the true length of her fangs. It was a wonder she didn't cut her lower lip just by talking. "Nothing like living in the field. Is there a room I can use, Dix?" 

"Yes. Luke just routed some of the generator's power to the second floor a few hours ago, and I think there's a room up there clean enough for your needs." 

"Excellent. Come on," she said, grabbing at Biggs's jacket, "I'm gonna need a donor." He nodded and the three left to see to the still-unconscious X5. 

Alec let out an explosive breath and dusted off his hands. "Well, my work here is done." He was opening his mouth to say goodbye to Joshua and Luke when a string of curses fired through the air, stopping everyone in their tracks. They all looked up at Mole standing on the platform watching the drama unfolding on one of the large television sets. 

"Damn the Ordinaries. They got another brother." Central went absolutely still as everyone saw what had caused Mole's vehement words. It was a news special report playing the hoverdrone feed of sector police beating and gunning down the transgenic earlier that day. 

The anchorman voice sounded over the footage. "Witnesses described the man with clearly superhuman strength as an animalistic mutant…" 

"His name was Mule. He was in my unit," Luke said. The video zoomed in on the dead transgenic's barcode and the report went on to mention speculation about Manticore and a soldier breeding program. 

Alec felt a heavy warm hand come to rest on his shoulder. "Gotta find Lil'Fella, Alec." He looked up at Joshua standing over him. Clear blue-gray eyes held the same anxiousness and fear that he was feeling. He turned from the monitors and started toward the nearest exit with Joshua following at his heels. 

"I'm heading over to Logan. He was the last person to see her last night before she got in touch with her inner sociopath. Maybe he has a clue as to what's going on." 

"Think that's a good idea." 

"When I find her I'm bringing her back here. I think it's best if we all lay low together for now." 

"But, she's X5," Luke interrupted. Alec hadn't even noticed that he'd left Central with them. "Your kind don't seem to have such a hard time blending in. Safe enough for you on the outside." 

"Despite what you just saw, the men hunting us down don't give a rat's ass what we look like. Anyone with a barcode is fair game." 

"Guess Joshua safe then, huh?" 

Alec slapped his friend on the back. "Keep dreaming, big guy." 

"See you soon, Medium Fella." 

Alec nodded and ducked through a hole in the perimeter fence, heading for his bike and, he hoped, some answers. 

**TBC**


	6. Don't Believe Your Eyes

** Chapter 6: Don't Believe Your Eyes **

Man and Beast. There was something in every transgenic, a primal thing, a dark thing, that each had to keep in check. The balance was fragile between that raw side of themselves and their more civilized natures. The beast within the man. So fragile was this balance that constant, iron control had to be kept, or else the least provocation might tip the scales. 

For example, Alec didn't mean to ruin Logan's front door. Really, he didn't. He knew it wasn't the door's fault that Max had gone crazy, or that he couldn't seem to catch her, or that he was still wet from the rain and a tour of Seattle's sewers. His mind knew this. But, all through his journey across town to Logan's sector an unbearable tension had been building in him. 

He'd been thinking about the events of the day, about Max's sudden change, about Logan's penchant for sending her into situations that she (and Alec, who couldn't stop watching her back) usually just barely escaped. He'd been thinking about the maddeningly fleeting memories he had of being at Logan's last week and his overwhelming but inexplicable reluctance to return to the man's apartment. 

Tension. His body was practically humming with the tune of it – had vibrated in its key across the lobby of Logan's building and into the elevator. There wasn't much that Alec could recall from the day that White's drug had done a number on him, though snippets of memory were slowly emerging. And what he did remember were fragments of moments and feelings that left him more confused than anything. He remembered Max promising him ice cream and pizza, and he remembered kicking Logan, but he couldn't remember any other moments from his time in Logan's penthouse. Whenever he used the techniques he learned at Manticore to make himself remember all he got were feelings: frustration, fear, and an almost overwhelming sense of despair. All of this made him want to avoid Logan like the plague. 

But, for Max's sake, Alec should have gotten in touch with Logan first thing, despite his confidence in his own ability to track her. He was wasting time chasing behind her – and at times being led on by her – when he still didn't have the damnedest clue what was wrong with her or what he would do with her once he had her in his grasp. He'd tried calling her again while on his way to the rich sector that Logan lived in, but she wasn't answering. He'd been berating himself for not having contacted Logan earlier, when he knew in his gut that the man might very well have the key to unlock the mystery of Max's behavior. 

He was furious with himself and worried about Max. And he took it out on Logan's door. 

The result was a noticeable fracture running from the top of the door to its bottom and a dent in the wall next to it where the knob ricocheted off. Well, at least the door didn't come entirely off its hinges. It could still probably be considered serviceable, since it closed well enough – slammed shut with a resounding crash, in fact. Alec marched on with single-minded purpose straight to the study, said crash echoing in his wake. 

Sure enough, Logan sat at his desk. He'd swiveled his chair and was facing the entryway to the room, wearing an expression that changed from shock to exasperation once he saw who his visitor was. "What, destroying my windows wasn't enough so you have to go for the door too?" 

Alec didn't answer Logan's question, instead asking one of his own. "What the hell happened last night?" 

Logan's attitude transformed from exasperation to condescension. He leaned back in his expensive, ergonomic desk chair and folded his hands over his stomach. "Care to explain what you're talking about?" 

The muscle in the X5's jaw twitched at Logan's arrogant tone. _If I kill him, Max will kill me,_ Alec thought. Not really on his agenda for the evening, so he kept the urge in check. "Max," he bit out. "What happened to Max?" 

A short bark of laughter preceded words practically dripping with glee. "I knew it. I knew you'd be jealous. You've wanted her all along. And now that the virus is gone and there's nothing standing between her and me you can't take it." He smiled and leaned forward. "It's eating you up inside, isn't it? That I finally have her and you have nothing. How's that feel, Alec?" 

He stared at Logan for a moment. "Are you done? Good. Now, remove your head from your ass and listen to what I'm saying: something.is.wrong.with.Max." 

Logan's face fell. "Something's wrong with Max?" 

"Yeah, Cap'n America. Why else would I come here?" Alec indicated the cyber-journalist, the computers, the entire penthouse with a sweep of his arms and a roll of his eyes. Then he took a step forward, his eyes locking onto and holding Logan's gaze. "So, what the hell happened to her last night? How _exactly _did you cure the virus?"

* * *

She was standing atop the Space Needle. The pensive expression that usually graced her features when she looked over the Seattle skyline was nowhere to be seen. In its place, an untamed grin flashed white teeth at the darkness. Hot energy coursed through her veins, the air around her practically sparking with it. 

She looked into the night and could see everything with absolute clarity. There were no shadows, and the colors of the dingy city night were all so vivid that they seemed to her to breathe. Standing upon the height of Seattle was once a way for her to remove herself from the chaos, but now she didn't feel so removed - not when so many sounds were beating in her head and in her blood; not when the riotous smells from Seattle's depths rose and mingled with the chilly, damp air to swirl around her. The untamed night called to her, sang to her. Max turned and raced down the neck of the Needle, burning with the need to answer and to find those who would feel the same call and possessed her same ability to rise to it. 

In a heartbeat, she was astride her baby. Her hands caressed the clutch and throttle. She leaned low, seeming to become one with the bike. Wild laughter trailed behind her, barely heard over the engine's roar, swept back by the same wind that forced her brown tresses from her face. The stolen NOS that she'd injected into her fuel system thrust the bike forward faster than she'd ever taken it. The rush was the purest elixir she'd ever tasted. Better than any sex she'd ever had, akin to the purest fight she'd ever been in. Her thighs hugged the gas tank as they would a lover, the engine rumbled beneath her, sending wonderful vibrations throughout her body. The wide grin that graced her face was ferociously joyous, and behind dark lenses her mismatched eyes reflected the sensation that was threatening to overwhelm her. 

Freedom. She was finally free. 

Almost. A shadow grew over her features. Almost. After a moment a slow grin dawned over the darkness and her fierce laughter echoed around her again.

* * *

There were a few moments of absolute silence that blanketed Logan's apartment in the wake of his explanation of the previous night's events. In that time Alec attempted to exert some control over his initial desire to throttle the man sitting on the other side of the room. 

_Easy. Easy. Just breath, man. Inhale. Exhale. Remember: you can't kill him. Calm, that's the ticket. Breathe. Fuck it._

"You trusted a Manticore doctor to inject Max with some concoction? A Manticore doctor who miraculously just happens to be hanging around Seattle when all the rest of his peers have fled for fear of losing their lives? Are you really that stupid? I mean, it's not like you're new. You've heard the stories. You know what they're capable of!" 

"Alec," Logan tried to stave off the rant, "as I've said to Max in the past, not all people from Manticore are inherently evil - " 

"Especially when they have something you want, right Logan?" 

"It was an excellent lead. He contacted me through one of my most trusted resources in the Informant Net." 

It was Alec's turn to let out a bark of laughter out. "The Informant Net? Oh yeah, 'cause that's an absolutely failsafe system." 

"Hey!" 

"Did you at least get sample of the serum?" 

"He only made the one dose." 

"How about the written formula for the cure?" 

"I didn't ask for it." He saw Alec roll his eyes in exasperation and hurried on, "but the doctor assured me that the dose was strong enough to completely destroy the virus." 

"Sure. Right. Of course. So, what you're saying is you had no back up plan whatsoever." 

"That's not –" 

"How could you dose her with any anything without testing it out on a sample of her blood first?" 

"Please. I'm not a moron, Alec. I sent him a work up of Max's DNA and blood chemistry." 

Alec blinked slowly. "Wait, wait, wait. I can't believe I'm hearing this. You sent the details of Max's DNA – her transgenic, utterly perfect, no junk, desperately wanted by the CDC and who knows what other government agencies DNA, not to mention the markers for a government-created, genetically-specific virus that would obliterate any doubt as to Max's identity – you sent all that out into cyberspace?" 

Logan paled slightly. "Well, when you say it like that…" 

"Never mind, I'll deal with that shit when it hits the fan. Let's focus on the present catastrophe. Did at least send him a recent blood chem, you know, post-dose of crazy cult's snake venom? Or hadn't you noticed that she still has their brand on her arm?" 

"Her reaction to the snake venom was mild at best. Within an hour of exposure she was no longer symptomatic." 

"That's all super, Logan, but who's to say that it hasn't had some unseen effect on her?" 

"You guys are supposed to be resilient, immune to everything." He settled his eyeglasses higher on the bridge of his nose with a nervous gesture. 

Alec threw up his arms. "She's a transgenic, not a fucking cyborg. We're immune to bio-warfare, but that doesn't mean that we can't be drugged, or that certain chemical agents can't do a number on our patchwork DNA. Or were you not paying attention to what happened to me last week?" 

Logan took a deep breath in an attempt to stay the better, more rational man. "So, if Max has regressed, we just need to find her and keep her somewhere safe until the effects of the cure wear off." 

"I never said she was regressing." 

"Then what, _exactly_, is wrong? And where is she?" 

"She's on the move," was the very clipped answer Alec gave to Logan's second question. To answer the first, he shared some of the conclusions about Max's state that he'd come to over the course of half a day spent tracking her. "It's like she's tapped into her animal instincts on a cellular level. And not just her instincts, but those parts of her genetic makeup that are other than human. The change is both physical and mental. Even her scent has changed." 

"Maybe it's not even Max, it could be a twin," Logan said, grasping at the possibility that Alec was totally of base, that nothing was wrong with Max. 

"Chances are Max does have a clone out there somewhere," Alec acceded. "But the one wreaking havoc today is Max. I'd know the difference." He ignored Logan's skeptical look and began pacing. "No, it's almost like…like she's going primal…" Alec frowned and his voice lowered, as if he were talking to himself, "…I need to figure out exactly what was in that damn cure." 

Trying once more to discount the transgenic's theory that the cure was the cause of the changes in Max, Logan said, "Maybe her state doesn't even have anything to do with the cure. Maybe she's just in heat." 

"She's not in heat. I'd know it if she were. I would have smelled it on her yesterday, possibly even the day before." _And I sure as hell wouldn't be standing here talking to you._ Alec didn't share that sudden train of thought with Logan and tried not to examine it too closely himself. "Whatever's going on with her, it isn't normal or natural." 

Logan's voice dripped with condescending sarcasm, "Oh, like her heat cycle is?" 

"For our kind, yeah." Alec smiled at him then – not the usual cocky grin, but a smile of all teeth and cold eyes. Logan was reminded of a great cat or a wolf, and the hair on the back of his neck rose as a instinctive warning of danger went off somewhere deep in his mind. Then Alec looked away, and, just like that, the moment was gone. He could breathe again. He swallowed to ease his heart back down his throat. 

Alec continued on as if hadn't noticed Logan's reactions, "She's attacking ordinaries and fighting other X5s." He didn't mention how Max threw Joshua in the basement and destroyed his home. It was a family matter, and one Alec would be sure to sort out once Max was back to her usual self. 

"I can't believe that any part of Max could be that violent, not without extreme provocation." Logan caught Alec's incredulous look. "Okay yes, Max does have the same genetics as the rest of you, the same skills and training and the same survival instinct – but she's not bloodthirsty. What she did while at Manticore…well, that was then. Those were things that they made her do. It's not who she is." 

"Keep telling yourself that," mumbled words made their way to Logan's ears. It was really irking him how casually and how often Alec kept implying that he knew and understood Max on a level to which Logan was not privy. Logan had known Max twice as long as the other man. Besides, Max had barely tolerated Alec's presence for the better amount of time that the X5 had been a part of her life. True, Max did seem to care somewhat for his well being, but that was just because she was much more sensitive than her bitchy attitude let on. It didn't mean that Alec was special in some way. 

"I need the name and contact information of the scientist who came up with this cure." 

Logan turned back towards his terminals, but said, "He's probably no longer at the original address he gave me. He's trying to stay below the government's radar, remember?" 

Alec shrugged. "That won't be a problem. I have a lot of practice finding ordinaries who don't want to be found."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Alec was well on his way to the good doctor's last known residence, a slummy suburb just outside of Seattle. While he deftly maneuvered his bike through the congested streets he thought about what he'd said to Logan about how Max's animal DNA seemed to be taking over. What was the nature of her animal side? Like all of the X5 series, she had a lot of feline DNA, but she also had some shark genes mixed in there. 

Right now every reaction Max had was connected with violence, with survival – physical and emotional. She was a predator. She was territorial. As such, her every encounter meant figuring out where people fit in the order of dominance – if they were predators or just there as prey. 

From the evidence that Alec had seen, her encounters with ordinaries had been more in the nature of her swatting away annoying insects than launching focused attacks. The people were in her way. Sketchy, Normal, and that guy at the motorcycle shop, they had all gotten in the way of whatever Max had been doing at the time. And, instead of lashing out with her tongue or with a relatively minor slap as she usually would, she had casually employed the brute strength that every transgenic possessed to channel her irritation. She had lost any kind of standard, yardstick, check, ….ability to gauge what was an appropriate physical response by human standards and replaced it with the laws of jungle and ocean. She hadn't hurt any of the humans in the club because they meant nothing to her and didn't pose any sort of inconvenience. They'd just been scenery. 

Her conflicts with other transgenics were an entirely different story. Biggs had said that Max attacked Cece first. Alec thought that might have been a dominance play and an instinct to claim her territory. Any X5 female would be seen as a rival, there could only be one queen. Both predatory felines and sharks are extremely territorial. And sharks, combative by nature, tend to go in for surprise attacks and hit and run tactics. 

Joshua was a different story. His injuries had resulted more from rough handling than from a direct attack. He'd told Alec that Max flipped out when she realized that he'd had contact – had actually made friends – with an unknown ordinary. She'd wrecked the house and specifically the paintings for lack of a better target. If she'd been herself it wouldn't have been anger that she'd have expressed – or, more likely, repressed – it would have been fear over Joshua's safety, concern for his heart. She always felt like she needed to control the situation, as if that control could keep them all safe. It seemed to Alec that she had been displaying dominance and a need to protect. Max threw Joshua in the basement so that he would learn that she was the dominant in their family relationship and so that he would be somewhere the outside world couldn't get to him. 

Her wilder instincts might be taking over, but beneath all that was Max – not the persona that she showed to the world at large, but her true self. Alec needed to figure out what drove Max in her heart of hearts, what she needed, what she feared, what would give her peace. 

But there was only one thing that he was absolutely sure of: Max wouldn't leave her family behind. She wouldn't leave without Josh. And, based on the time that they'd spent over the past week and the vague memories he had from his day as a man-sized child, Alec knew that Max wouldn't leave without him either. She wouldn't. 

_She won't._

* * *

Flicker. Flicker. 

"Oh great., another brown-out." Logan heaved a great sigh as he pulled matches from the drawer of his desk. "Just what I need." His exo whirled softly as he stood up to light the candle that sat on the shelf above his monitor. He turned intending to light the other candles around the room and jumped a little at the shadow standing in the doorway. 

"Hi, honey." 

"Max," Logan sighed in relief. "It's you." After a heartbeat, the slender figure stepped forward until the soft, fluttering light of the single flame fell softly across the exotic beauty of her mouth, leaving the rest of her face shadowed. Her full lips were wrought in a mocking smile. 

"Were you expecting someone else?" 

Logan was struck dumb by her outfit and mesmerized by the sultry movements of her body. The candlelight lay golden across what flesh was revealed to his starving gaze: her midriff, her neck, her hands, her thighs. She was a vision in her miniskirt, high boots, and long leather coat. Her small, red shirt hugged the curves of her chest in a way that made Logan's mouth go dry. He swallowed before trying to answer her. "Just you, Max." 

"So, what was so important that you've been blowing up my pager all afternoon?" 

"We did have dinner plans, right?" 

"We did." She turned her face toward the kitchen. "But you didn't cook." 

"Well, I got a little distracted. Alec came over babbling some nonsense about how the cure made you sick." 

"Ah, yes. Alec." Logan could make out her small smile in the shadow. 

"Yeah, he just left not too long ago." 

"I know," she paused to sniff delicately. "I can still smell him." 

"Oh." He remembered Alec saying he knew Max by her scent. His brow furrowed. "I didn't know you had an enhanced sense of smell." 

Max smirked. "I'm just full of surprises today." 

Logan began lighting the candles that were set at regular intervals throughout the study. "I'm so glad you're here. Clearly, Alec was wrong. You look perfectly normal to me." 

Max laughed – a lot harder than he thought his comment warranted. "Logan, don't you know that I'm beyond normal?" 

"Of course you are, Max. Of course you're amazing. I mean, you look," he glanced over his shoulder and swallowed audibly, "you look fantastic tonight. Not that you don't always." Logan felt heat creep up his cheeks as he realized that he was rambling like a fourteen year old virgin. He'd been waiting for this moment for so long, the moment that she wouldn't kill him upon contact. Now that she was finally there in front of him and so touchable, he was overwhelmed. He focused on lighting the last candle in an attempt to compose himself. 

"What else did Alec say?" 

He cleared his throat. "That he was going to find you." He watched her walk over to one of the scented candles and run her hand swiftly through the flame. Confronted with just her back, Logan finally noticed her long, wild hair blending in with the black of her coat as it fell in thick waves almost to her tiny waist. "Are you going to call him and tell him everything is alright?" 

"Why would I do that?" She laughed again. "Alec will figure out the rules of the game. And there'll still be plenty of time to play." She turned then and walked out of the study. 

Logan couldn't decipher what she meant by that last statement, but he decided that he would rather not try. He grabbed the nearest candle and followed her into the dark living room. "You know, I knew last night that Alec would be jealous when he found out about the cure. Maybe you should just stick to dealing with him on a strictly business level." 

"You think?" She stood at his brand new windows, staring out into the blackness of Seattle as if she could see everything. 

Logan was silent for a moment. Max kept her back to him as he lit the candles around the room. He took a deep breath before he crossed into uncharted conversational territory. "Alec wants you, and…I know you feel some sort of protective instinct for him. You see him as family. But that's not the way he sees you, Max. He sees that verbal sparring you two do as some sort of foreplay, I'm sure of it." 

"Are you standing in an X5's way, Logan?" There wasn't any emotion in Max's voice when she asked the question. It was more as if she were curious about rather than invested in the Logan's answer. She didn't even turn away from the windows. 

"I just don't want him trying to take advantage of you. I'm not so sure he really knows right from wrong. I mean, just think of how he behaved with me last week." 

"Don't worry Logan, I know just how to handle Alec." 

He put down the candle and walked over to her. She was acting so distant. He needed to get closer to her, to reassure them both that they belonged to each other. "I'm not worried, just concerned." 

She turned towards him with her head bowed, her face hidden by all those beautiful dark tresses. She took his hand in hers, skin to skin. Logan's heart soared at that simple touch and he closed his eyes. Her hand slid up his arm slowly and she stepped close, so that her body was molded to his side. The fragrance of her hair, some untamed flower, was the only reason he remembered to breathe. 

"Aren't you sweet," her words were as soft and warm as her hand that hand that finally came to rest on his neck. He opened his eyes and looked down, but all those waves were still hiding most of her from view. He could only catch a glimpse of her golden cheek and the passionate red of her full lips. His head dipped with the need to taste her, but she was already sliding around him. 

There was something about the way she moved. The thought brought to mind what Alec had said, and he imagined the sensual glide of jungle cats. Max was standing directly behind him, he knew this. But he couldn't hear her, couldn't sense her at all. Humans didn't stand so still. Suddenly, Logan was no longer feeling as amorous. He couldn't stop the fine trembling that momentarily overtook his body. She paused in circling him and sniffed at him. When she spoke her warm breath raised the hairs on the back of his neck. 

"Logan, you're not scared of little ol' me, are you?" She made her way around his body until she stood in front of him, her head barely coming to his chin as she rested her cheek against his chest. 

His forced laugh was as rigid and tense as his spine. "No. No, of course not. I love you, Max." 

She wrapped her arms around his waist. He could feel the heat radiating off her through his sweater. It was the first time in almost a year that he'd been this close to her exposed skin and not had to fear poison in her touch. 

Yet, some instinct was screaming that he should be. 

Her laughter was husky and filled with promises of silk sheets, sweet wine, sweat, and scream-filled nights. "I bet you say that to all the girls who could kill you with a snap." She snuggled further into his stock-still body. "Your heart is beating so fast. Sounds like a rabbit thumping inside your ribcage." She laughed again. "Maybe I'll call you 'Thumper.'" 

She tilted her head looked up at him, shaking her long hair back so that nothing veiled her beauty from his view. For the first time he light from the candles fell full across her face to illuminate her alien eyes. 

Logan jumped back. "Christ!" The word that was so loud in his mind was barely a breath on his lips. He was so fixated on Max's eyes and her maniacal smile that he never saw her fist coming. 

**TBC**


	7. Uncaged and Screaming

**Chapter 7: Uncaged and Screaming**

It was dark and chill where Logan sat. Small splinters of glass dyed red with his blood rested on the tile beside him. He thought he'd managed to pull most of them out by the glow of his cell phone's display. He thought he'd managed to suppress all his whimpers of pain.

_((He came to alone in his living room, lying in the dark amidst the remnants of his shattered coffee table. He could hear Max moving around his kitchen.))_

Cold sweat was stinging the cuts on his cheeks and the back of his neck. The shallow cut on his scalp was still bleeding quite a bit, matting his hair to his scalp and soaking the collar of his shirt. He clutched the phone in his left hand, the hand that wasn't slashed and bleeding. But he couldn't bring himself to dial. He couldn't call the police. There was something wrong with her but it wasn't her fault. It wasn't her.

_((Holding nothing back, Max punched him. His body flew up in the air and back down, pulled flat by gravity to land upon the glass coffee table. The two layers of glass shattered under his weight. Shards of glass scattered across the floor like the pieces of a sharp jigsaw puzzle. His body lay limp within the metal frame.))_

But, it wasn't her fault. It wasn't her.

So Logan sat on the cold tile in the pitch black bathroom with his cell phone clutched to his chest, and prayed that she would just leave him to bleed.

* * *

A light breeze was blowing. It tickled his cheeks and brushed his bangs across his forehead. His hair was getting longer. Soon he wouldn't have to put up his collar to hide his barcode. Out of habit, he shrugged the leather covering his broad back and shoulders until is sat a little higher. Max was always harping on him to cover it better. It was ironic that a woman so concerned about exposure was running around throwing store owners through windows and shooting at hoverdrones. 

Alec sat astride his motorcycle and moved his head from side to side in hopes of relieving some of the tension that just seemed to keep building in him.

He wondered if Max knew just how much she meant to him and Joshua. Of course, both men were capable of surviving on the outside without her – no matter how she chose to treat the dog-man. But, what kind of existence would that be? Alec had become so used to having both Joshua and Max in his life that he could barely imagine. They were the first transgenics Alec could remember feeling so close to. In Max, he had an X5 with whom he shared more than just an assigned mission. He wasn't sure exactly what the definition of their relationship was, but the label didn't really matter. What mattered was that with Max and Joshua he had a real sense of home that he'd never had before. And those feelings had only strengthened over the last week.

He was biting his thumbnail again. He wondered how he could still have any nervous ticks after going through Psy-Ops more than once. His lip curled in a wry grimace. Just another personality detail that Manticore let slip through their clutches. He moved his bike forward as another person ahead of him in the line was waved through the checkpoint.

All this thinking about relationships and home were just a way to distract himself from thinking about the trouble Max was probably getting herself – and the rest of them, for that matter – into while he went off in search of the Manticore doctor who'd cooked up the cure. Though he was really concerned over what physiological effects the cure might be having on Max and how her new behavior was posing a threat to their cover, he had to admit there was a part of him that was enjoying the new Maxie. She seemed freer, more at ease in her own transgenic skin, more sure of her power. And more prepared to use that power. The fact that her new attitude was sexy as hell was not a bad thing either, though Alec tried not to dwell too hard on that fact.

"…wild, long hair, unbelievable mouth. I'm telling you man, this chick was amazing. You really missed something." Alec tuned in to the conversation that the guards at the opposite direction of the checkpoint were having. What were they, psychic? "She had on this little mini that barely covered these killer legs. And, dude, I thought I was gonna die watching the way her thighs hugged that purring motor…"

_Max. _

Suddenly in that moment, Alec knew with a certainty that she needed his help more than she ever would need that of the scientist. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Insight and intuition and some sixth sense came together in a flash that none other than the genetically engineered could hope to achieve. Something was about to go very, very wrong. He felt it in his gut.

_Release. Max. Hunger. Logan. Hunt. _

Alec wheeled his bike around just as the floodlights at the checkpoint shut down along with every other light along the streets and in the buildings. But the sudden darkness of the brownout did not affect Alec in the least. The few stars that shone through the blanket of overhead clouds and the rapidly rising moon were casting more than enough light for his heightened sight. He switched off his bike's headlight to avoid police detection as he sped off into the night, back to Foggle Towers.

* * *

Candlelight danced upon the metal of the knife that was imbedded in the board beside her. It was reflected in the amber of her right eye and swallowed by the black of her left eye. There was a slight stain of red beneath her fingernails and blending into the color of her lips. Max savored the taste of rare meat on her tongue. 

It was a pretty damn good sandwich. It would have been better if the meat had been warm, but she really didn't have time for all that. The leftovers of a roast in Logan's fridge would have to do. Finished her snack, she stood with a sigh. She wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand as she walked into the living room.

The frame of the coffee table was still as sturdy as ever, but the glass lay in shards large and small on the floor. There were small splashes of blood amidst the splinters. Her boots crunched in the jigsaw puzzle of glass scattered about. A thin trail of blood was drying in a tacky, crimson-black line of handprints on the hardwood floor. Max followed it through the penthouse. She walked into the unlit hallway, but had no trouble still seeing the stain clearly.

Her lips were pulled back in a feral grin as she whispered, "Logan, come out, come out, wherever you are." She continued on into his large master bedroom. The moon shone brightly through the skylight, tinting the space with an eerie, cold blue light. Max's smile grew. The scent of Logan's sweat and fear was thickest at the door to the bathroom. She ran her fingernails lightly over the cherry wood. Her superior hearing picked up the sound of Logan's startled jump. She giggled.

"What? Did you think I was gone?" He didn't answer, but she could hear his breathing quicken and his heart rate pick up. "You woke up faster than I thought you would."

Max tried the doorknob. It was, of course, locked. Logan wasn't a complete idiot. "You know Logan, it really is pretty rude of you to make a girl fend for herself in the food department after you've invited her over for dinner." She drove her fist through three inches of wood to the other side of the door.

Logan finally found his voice. "You don't want to do this Max." His words were strangled and panicked. "You love me. This is wrong."

"Poor, poor Logan. Such a broken little man," she mocked him as she continued to hammer through the door. "Always so focused on the injustices of the world."

"Max, please."

"So concerned about how the G-man is stepping on the little people. Gotta get the message out. Why is that, exactly?" With a final tug, Max ripped the ruined door off the hinges.

Logan had pressed himself as far back into the wall as he could. He was shakily standing there with his uninjured hand raised, an unconscious gesture to both plead with Max and ward her off. "Max, please, please listen to me. This isn't you."

"Oh no! Of course it's not me. I've always just wanted to be like a regular girl…blah, blah, woof, woof." She rolled her eyes. "You know what, Logan? In this little thing that we've got going on," she paused to grab him by the collar and toss him through the splintered door. He sailed across his bedroom to crash hard into his dresser. She followed slowly. "I'm feeling downtrodden, I'm feeling oppressed." She came to stand at his feet, gazing upon his dazed figure with her head cocked to the side and one hand on her hip. "I'm feeling bound and shackled. And not in a good kinky fun kinda way."

Before Logan could blink or whimper, she was on him.

* * *

The ding indicating he'd reached Logan's floor sounded unnaturally loud in his ears. He left the elevator and took one step toward the penthouse. The moment he did, his senses were hit with the overwhelming scent of Max and blood. Without hesitation, Alec blurred down the dark hall. 

When he entered the penthouse his feline eyesight roved over destruction everywhere – overturned cabinets, smashed vases, broken furniture – he could see it all clearly despite the darkness. He moved toward the living room, Max's scent growing with each step he took. He rounded the corner and was struck by a sight so unreal that it stopped him in his tracks.

Max stood in the middle of the room with a grip of steel around Logan's throat. He was clawing at her fingers with his left hand while his legs twitched futilely a good two feet from the floor. Max's head was cocked to the side as she calmly watched Logan's eyes bug out and a soft blue creep across his lips and cheeks. There was blood dripping from his nose, a livid bruise was growing darker beneath the stubble on his cheek, and his right arm hung at an odd angle.

Alec knew beyond doubt that Max had been aware of his presence from the moment he'd stepped off the elevator. Still, he kept his voice quiet and controlled so as to not startle her.

"Max --"

"Alec." She drew out the sound of his name into sing-song syllables.

"Max, put him down."

There was a small smile curling the edges of her generous mouth. She continued to study the now barely struggling Logan. Her stance was casual as she held a man more that twice her body weight above her with ease.

"You know," she said, "when I left that alley earlier tonight, you were supposed to follow me. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Always chase the girl, Alec. I expected a playa playa like you to know that." She turned her attention to Alec, her freakish eyes raked over him from head to toe and back again. A passed out Logan hung limply from her fist.

Alec added an edge to his voice, but did not raise it. "Now Max."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever." With a careless flick of her wrist, Max cast the grown man aside like an old rag doll. His body flew across the room to hit the wall with a resounding crack before sliding bonelessly to the floor. "He was dead weight anyway."

Alec glanced at the older man. I hope that wasn't his neck, he thought. He didn't have time to check though, because Max was slowly moving closer. She gripped the front of her long coat, opening it wide and letting the soft leather slide gracefully down her bare arms. She eyed Alec speculatively as she tossed the black garment away with the same disregard she'd shown Logan.

"Are you going soft on me, Alec?" She was circling him, a mocking smile upon her full lips, body moving like her feline ancestors. "'Cause you know," she paused, licking her lips, "I'd much prefer a hard Alec." Her sultry laughter held an undertone of purring.

Her tall boots were absolutely silent as she moved across the floor. He turned his body in step with hers so that they were always facing each other. Another man might have tried to talk to Max in soothing tones, the way one talks a jumper back from unmentionable heights. Another man may have tried to convince Max that what she was doing wasn't right.

Alec shrugged out of his leather jacket, leaving him in his black t-shirt and jeans. She pulled the gun from the back waistband of her skirt, clicked on the safety, and threw it to the corner. Watching her, Alec tilted his head to the side to crack his neck and loosen up. They were circling ever closer to each other. Some part of him knew that this face-off had been inevitable from the moment that Max had stepped into Jam Pony. It just felt right that as equals they confronted each other with nowhere to run and no distractions.

Right, that is except for the fact that Max was slightly insane.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What is it with you and trashing people's homes?" Her only answer was a shrug and a smirk that looked suspiciously familiar to him. She paused in her stalking and Alec could feel the energy in the room curl back in on itself like a serpent preparing to strike.

Max threw the first punch.

Forearm to forearm, foot to shin, fist to cheek, they made quick, superficial contact to test each other's defenses. This was just simple sparring, like being back home in the training yard. An exercise. A warm up. She was faster than he was, more flexible as well. But, he had weight and pound for pound muscle strength on his side, not to mention a full decade more of time spent honing his skills against others of their kind.

Max came at him with a right hook. He blocked and moved into her body with a gut punch. She hopped back to avoid the full force of his strength behind the blow. She latched onto his wrist when his fist connected with her middle and used the solid tension in his forearm to leverage herself in a flip over his head. Before her feet could hit the ground, she lashed her leg out behind her, kicking him in his kidney. Alec went to his knee, but swept a leg out to knock her on her ass before rolling out of her reach.

They both rose to their feet and began circling again. The adrenaline was just starting to flow. The feeling was a heady drug pumping hot blood through hearts with newly accelerating beats. It was intoxicating and pulled them back together with a magnetic force.

They exchanged a series of punches wherein neither was able to make good contact. Finally, Alec saw an opening in her defenses. He slammed his fist into her cheek, whipping her head to the side. Before she could recover, he immediately grabbed her shoulders and pulled her downward just as he lifted his leg. His knee made contact with her solar plexus and the air came whooshing from her lungs. He was about to follow up with an elbow to her back, but she managed to block with a swiftly raised wrist. She jerked her head up, smashing the back of her skull into his chin and backing him up a step.

Max's leg swept up and around in an artful crescent kick. Alec had a split second to notice that she was wearing red panties before her foot connected with the side of his head. He stumbled back another step, recovered, and charged in again. They exchanged another set of blows. Max shook the curls out of her face after another vicious head butt and smiled at her partner.

"I fought your twin like this once," she said in a conversational tone. "He lost." Alec ducked her right fist only to meet a savage left upper cut with his face. His head snapped back, but he kept his footing and awareness. Max bent her knee in preparation for her next attack.

"Newsflash Maxie." He caught the foot that she attempted to break his leg with and threw it up. She flew through the air, crashing through the plexi-glass barrier that separated Logan's study from the living room to land hard on the ground amidst the harmless debris. Alec spat blood out onto the floor. "I'm not my brother."

Max stood and wiped the back of one hand across her bloodied nose. She glanced down at the red smear across her wrist and knuckles then met his eyes with a feral grin. "I always knew you'd like it rough."

A smirk tugged up one side of his full lips. "C'mon Maxie. You wanna play don't you?"

They raced toward each other in a blur their kind were known for and didn't slow down again. That was the turning point, the moment when the fight became something else altogether. It became more dance, more ritual than contest of strength and ability. The human eye would have been incapable of following their movements. The world faded away until it was just the two of them and their deadly dance. It no longer mattered why they were fighting, only that they were finally in their element. This is where instinct and training melded. No thought in between, it was almost as if they reached some sort of meditative state. It was something that their makers never could have imagined.

And the scent of fresh blood just spurred them on.

They blurred from one kata, one sequence, one movement to the next. Neither's style was easily classifiable. Each utilized something from every martial art they'd ever been taught and every street trick they'd ever picked up, and molded those moves into styles entirely personal. Most opponents would find it hard to get the upper hand on either of them. Yet, after a year of fighting back to back in a variety of situations, they'd both learned each other's fighting rhythms. For every attack one of them made, the other had an answer of equal force and finesse.

Max's leg shot up high, catching him well beneath his chin and snapping his head back. There was so much power in the kick that it forced him into a back flip. Looking back to spot his landing, Alec realized that he would be on the other side of the window before his body finished its full rotation. He crashed through the new pane of glass feet first. In a feat of true feline agility, Alec gripped the window ledge, piked his legs down and thrust them through his arms. With all his transgenic strength, Alec pushed off the ledge, catapulting himself at full speed toward Max. His boots hit her square in the chest and sent her flying across the living room.

He was blurring over to her before the sound of her impacting the wall even carried. Her body hit the plaster with such force that it left a sizeable dent in its wake. She fell to the ground on all fours and immediately sprang into him just as he reached her. Her momentum carried them both back down. Alec landed on his back with a thud and a grunt. Max straddled him with a growl and her hands reached for his neck. He punched out before she could get a choking hold and flipped them over.

While they struggled on the floor like two wild animals, Alec realized that some thing was very, very wrong with Max. Something in addition to her already high level of freakiness for the day. Her scent was changing again. And not just that. Alec was sensing a shift in her that raised his hackles. He looked down into her face and saw that her eyes had now both bled to black, there was no longer the trace of feline in her gaze. In his shock, he lifted some of his weight from Max. She took advantage of the moment to roll them over again.

Max's head reared back in what Alec assumed was the setup for yet another oncoming head butt, but it never came. Instead she grabbed onto the front of his t-shirt and pulled him closer. She had a vice-like grip with her legs around his waist and her mouth was open. Suddenly realizing what she was about to do, he twisted and jerked his head down to protect his jugular just as she struck. Max sunk her teeth into the flesh of his shoulder instead.

Alec clenched his jaw over his scream and pulled her off of him by her hair. She was drooling his blood, rivulets of red dripping down her chin, staining her shirt. Once she'd released her grip on his flesh, he jackknifed his lower body so that she flew over his head, but kept his hands locked on her wrists so that he could control her landing. When her body hit the floor above his head with a crash he rolled back so that he was straddling her.

He backhanded her, putting all his transgenic strength into the blow. It stunned her just long enough for him to turn her over. From above and behind her he squeezed his arm around her neck like a steel trap, locking his grip with his other arm across the back of her neck. She moved wildly beneath him, but he held her down as only a transgenic having considerably more muscle mass than she had could ever do. Eventually her thrashing faded into desperate flailing that faded into nothing. It took a full six minutes, and he still held on for a few extra. He had to be sure she really was unconscious.

Finally, Alec rolled her over onto her back and put his head to her chest. Once he was assured by her steady heartbeat and shallow breaths, he lifted his head and stared into her blood-splattered and bruised face. She looked so peaceful. Almost of their own accord, his fingers lifted to gently, almost reverently, smooth back her sweat-soaked, tangled hair. He could see a bruise forming around her neck where his arm had been just moments before. Unnamed pain & regret stabbed at him at the sight.

"I'm so sorry, Maxie."

The lights in the penthouse flickered on, signaling the end to the brown-out. Alec leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the split corner of her mouth. He had an almost irresistible urge to run his tongue over her wound. The compulsion caught him off guard. The feeling was so strong it reminded him of the way that heat felt. It took every bit of will he had to get himself under control. Before he knew what was happening, his eyes were closed and his forehead rested against hers.

_Get your ass in gear, soldier! You don't have time for this! _

His eyes snapped open and the look of anguished emotion left his face, pushed aside by the mission at hand. He rolled off Max and took stock of his own injuries. Thanks to transgenic healing the bite on his shoulder was only bleeding sluggishly now. He could feel multiple bruises forming and thought he had at least one fracture, but nothing he couldn't ignore for the time being.

Alec moved quickly over to Logan's side to take stock of the fallen man's injuries. He had multiple cuts on his arms, hands and the back of his neck, but none of them seemed deep enough to cause much concern. One of Logan's eyes was swollen shut and a livid purple. Miraculously, the exo was still in perfect order. Alec was relieved – he'd sold no few favors to score it. He wondered if Logan had even tried kicking out at Max with his exo-enhanced legs before letting her get close enough to put her hand around his neck.

Alec felt for any contusions to Logan's head and encountered glass splinters among the gelled strands. He wiped away blood from a superficial cut to Logan's forehead that was still bleeding profusely, as head wounds were wont to do, and lifted the older man's unswollen eyelid.

"No cracked skull and no discernable concussion – that's something at least." His hands moved deftly over Logan's body. "Right arm broken below the elbow. Two, possibly three ribs broken on the left and another on the right. Dislocated left shoulder. Well, I can fix one of those." In one swift movement Alec jerked Logan's left arm back into it's correct position. Logan grunted but didn't wake up. "Sorry about that, buddy."

Leaving Logan in the corner, Alec walked across the room to grab his cell phone from his jacket pocket. He dialed the pay phone at Crash from memory as he slipped into the jacket. After two rings, Original Cindy picked up.

"Speak."

"OC, it's Alec."

"You find my Boo?"

"Yeah. Can you come over to Logan's right away? You'll need to call an ambulance for him when you get here. " Alec picked up Max's discarded Glock, tucking it into his jeans at the small of his back.

"What the hell happened?"

"Well, long story short, Max whipped Logan's ass…" Cindy interrupted his explanation.

"Max put the smack-down on Logan?" Her voice was shrill and disbelieving.

"You could most definitely say that. Anyway, I ended up having to put Max down for a nap, so now I've got two unconscious bodies on the floor at my feet." He retrieved Max's leather coat from the floor and wrapped her in it. "I can only take care of one of them at a time. Log's injuries aren't life-threatening, so how 'bout it?"

"I'm on my way."

"Good. If the authorities start asking questions, play dumb until Logan wakes up. He's got enough police contacts to smooth the whole thing over. I'll see you at Harbor Lights."

Alec hung up the phone and scooped Max up from the floor. She was lifeless in his arms like so much dead weight. He squeezed her closer to his body, as if more contact would not only protect her, but also bring her back to herself.

**TBC**


	8. Waking Nightmares & Sweet Dreams

**Chapter 8: Waking Nightmares & Sweet Dreams**

Fifteen minutes after speaking to OC on the phone, Alec was rushing down the hallway of Harbor Lights Hospital carrying Max's limp body. He held her close, the arm beneath her legs gripping her thighs, the other wrapped around her back holding her head to his chest. The unnatural heat of her was practically scorching him through his clothes and hers. Icy panic at the back of his mind was being suppressed with the iron fist of his will. He barged into the emergency ward and placed Max in the first empty bed he came across.

A man sporting a crew cut, too many muscles, and a no-nonsense expression hurried over to them from the nurses' station. "You can't just," he indicated Alec and Max with a vague flick of his wrist, "do this. We have procedures, young man."

Alec didn't even glance up at the nurse, all his attention focused on straightening Max out on the bed. "I need five times the normal dose of the strongest tranq you have on hand, wrist and ankle restraints – leather will do, metal'd be better – and page Dr. Shankar."

"You have to –"

Feeling Max begin to tremble beneath his hands, Alec turned the full intensity of his gaze upon the man and roared, "Now!" The nurse took one glimpse of the predator rising behind those hazel eyes and fled.

By the time the scared man returned with Dr. Shankar and a couple of security officers in tow, Alec had managed to tear a bed sheet and secure Max's wrists to the railings on either side of the bed. Spread upon the narrow mattress, beneath the harsh glare of fluorescent lights, she appeared incredibly fragile and battered. Her skin was pale with greenish shadows amidst the black and blue bruises. All over her body there were smears of blood: hers, his, and Logan's. Cuts and abrasions marred the perfection of her features, though Alec knew the damage had looked much worse just a half hour earlier. He watched her lying there so vulnerable as she trembled with the seizure and it felt like a hard punch to his gut.

Shankar took in the sight and couldn't believe her eyes. "Alec, what --?"

"She got some bad meds for that condition that she has. She's running a high fever and she was seizing violently on the way here. Then she was unresponsive for about ten minutes until she started shaking again." He indicated his makeshift restraints, explaining, "Plus, she isn't herself when she's awake."

As soon as Shankar knew as much of the score as Alec was willing to share she became a flurry of action. She new better than to ask about the cuts and bruises if he wasn't volunteering the information. At her commands, nurses and interns rushed over and moved with a purpose. Alec stepped back a few paces to let them do their jobs, but he did not leave the room and he made sure he could see Max's face at all times. In a matter of moments, Shankar's medical team had Max hooked up to a number of monitors, had stuck her veins with tubes attached to hanging bags of liquid, and had placed an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose. The torn fabric anchoring her wrists to the bed had been replaced with proper leather cuffs for her wrists as well as her ankles.

Alec pulled his eyes away from her face for just a moment to scan their immediate surroundings. He knew he shouldn't have drawn attention to them. After all, it wasn't that long ago that this hospital had been crawling with members of the CDC and White's cronies, all looking for a piece of Max. But he hadn't really had a choice. Harbor Lights was the hospital closest to Logan's and he knew that Dr. Shankar regularly worked shifts there. At least the security guards had left once they saw that Shankar knew him.

He turned his attention back to the activity surrounding Max. One of the nurses broke away from the group. She was a short Asian woman with a matronly figure clothed in hospital scrubs. She carried a clipboard and approached Alec with a purpose.

"What is the patient's name?"

Alec couldn't take the chance that Shankar might forget the alias he'd make up and say Max's name, so he answered in a half-truth. "Maxine McDowell."

"Are you a relative?"

"Yes," Alec answered without hesitation, "I'm her husband. I didn't grab her sector pass, but I have mine." He reached into his jacket pulled out his identification. She wrote his information down on the beginnings of Max's medical chart. Better that anyone who might come looking for Max found him instead. The nurse finished just as Shankar asked one of the interns to hand her two empty vials. Alec was immediately beside the doctor with an iron grip on one of her wrists.

"I'll do the blood work myself," Shankar assured him in a hushed tone, though she didn't try to pull herself from him. Alec briefly considered threatening her with serious injury should anyone find out that her patient wasn't human and instead was the most perfect woman ever created in a lab. But, when he looked into her eyes and took in her earnest expression, he realized that she knew just how very much was at stake, and, more importantly, she cared. He nodded and released her, then stood silently aside and watched her push another needle into Max's vein.

After a while, whatever drug they'd injected into Max's IV seemed to kick in and stop her body's shaking. She lay still upon the bed and most of Shankar's assistants began to move away to deal with other crises in the ER.

"Doc, we can't stay out in the open like this," Alec said. He was glancing all around, searching for viable egress routes.

The pretty, petite doctor studied his face. She had just seen him not even a week ago when Max had insisted that he come in so they could be sure he was completely back to normal after his drug-induced regression. To her eyes, he now looked much worse for wear. He seemed just as battered as Max, though admittedly he wasn't stricken with her paleness and he didn't look at all vulnerable. But the worry that shadowed his face every time he looked at Max and the tense set of every muscle in his body was not to be ignored.

Shankar could see bloodstains on the collar of his shirt where it peeked out from beneath his leather jacket. There was a cut on the bruised skin of his eye, a painful looking scrape across one of his cheeks, and his lip was split and slightly swollen. Standing in the ER looking the way he did and yet giving off the vibes of a cornered predator, Alec was sure to draw attention to both himself and Max. Attention that would bring with it unwanted questions and a whole mess of trouble.

"No, of course not," she said to him. "I'll see about getting her moved to a room. In the meantime, I'd like to run some scans on her, definitely an MRI and a CT. There could be something going on within her that might not show up in basic labs."

"Do what you have to Doc. But, I go where she goes."

Shankar simply nodded and began wheeling Max out of the ER with Alec following closely behind them.

* * *

"You know you really should send a thank you note to whoever it was that designed the miniskirt you wore today. I mean, in that outfit you could've made many a tip at the Blowfish. And hey, you'd still be able to pursue your very favorite hobby, kicking ass!" Alec stopped speaking to rub his palm over his side. He grimaced slightly in pain as he did so. "As a matter of fact, I've still got the bruises to prove it." His moved his hand from his sore ribs to rest on the leather restraint that wrapped around Max's slender wrist.

He was sitting in the private room that Shankar had been able to secure for Max. There was even a bathroom, so he wouldn't need to leave Max alone for any reason. Aside from being on guard against the CDC or White or anything else that twisted fate might want to throw their way, Alec didn't want Max to wake up alone, chained to a hospital bed. That very scenario had happened to each and every Manticore alum at some time or another. The thought took Alec to some dark places, some dark memories. He refused to let it happen to Max, not now, not when they were free, not if he could help it.

His jacket was thrown across one of the armchairs in the room. He'd dragged another one to the side of the bed closet to the door, so he would be between Max and any possible threat. Ever since Shankar had set them up in the room, he'd been leaning in close, talking to Max. He was trying to goad her into waking up by yammering on about everything and nothing at all. Even if she were still feral when she awoke, he'd prefer it to the silent figure lying beside him.

She was so pale. So very pale, with dark circles marring the delicate skin beneath her eyes. Her hair lay spread upon the pillow. The dark waves framed her face, further heightening the unhealthy pallor of her cheeks and lips. He moved his fingers into that thick mass of waves, marveling at the contrast of each strand against his fingertips and silky softness of it all.

"Why don't you let your hair do this all the time? I think this look suits you better." He paused to think a moment. "I know you like to pretend you're stodgy and proper, like Logan. But you're not. Underneath the tough chick act, I think you're this free." He smiled softly when he thought back to the way her hair had moved around them as they fought. At one point he couldn't see passed the curtain of it. It had seemed as though the world had disappeared completely and left the two of them to their dance. "I can tell by the way you fight."

Alec smiled sadly and then tried to snap himself out of it. "Come on Max, wake up. This cat napping thing is just so obvious." He leaned closer and whispered, "Is this just your way of getting out of that pizza, beer, and ice cream that you owe me? Huh?" He chuckled, "You thought I'd forgotten about that, didn't you…"

A throat cleared behind him. He knew it was one of the nurses that walked the floor. He'd heard her as she approached on her rounds. The soft squeak on the linoleum of those white clogs they all wore was unmistakable to hearing as sharp as his. He didn't even bother looking up. He knew she was alone, and, knowing that the only person that would have anything useful to say was Shankar, he was hoping the woman would just let him be.

"Sir, visiting hours will be ending in five minutes. I'm afraid you're going to have leave her room." The woman's voice was not unfriendly, but it held the matter-of-fact note of someone doing her job who expected no argument. When Alec didn't respond or acknowledge her in any way she tried again, "You can wait in the lobby at the other end of the floor. We'll notify you of any change in her status."

"I'm fine here," his voice was quiet and cool. His back remained to her and the rest of the world.

"Sir, it's hospital policy." While she thought it was sweet that he wanted to stay beside his wife, there were still rules. He turned his head to look at her and she immediately took a step back. For a moment his eyes had seemed to reflect and glow like some sort of big jungle cat. Even when that trick of the light was over, there seemed to be something not quite human lurking behind his pretty hazel eyes.

"I said, we're fine." When he spoke, his voice came out in a deep rumble and there was a visible tick in the muscle of his jaw. The nurse felt her pulse speed up until it was hammering at the base of her throat. With every synapse in her brain telling her to escape, she hastily backed out of the room and pulled the door shut. She was so shaken that she ran right into Shankar in her hurry to leave his line of sight.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Doctor, uh, I just, uh…"

"It's fine. What's wrong?"

"The- the young man," she stammered, "he won't leave your patient's room. Should I get security?"

"No," Shankar said and put a hand on the other woman's arm, "there's no need for that. Thank you, Vivian. I'll take it from here."

"Yes, doctor." The nurse rushed away as soon as Shankar gave her an out.

The doctor chuckled to herself at the other woman's rapid departure and entered the room without another thought. She could tell that Alec was talking to Max. She could her the murmuring rumble of his voice, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. Closing the door behind her, she made her way to the foot of the bed. She removed the clipboard of charts that hung there and rifled through the pages.

Alec was no longer talking to Max. He simply sat there staring at the other transgenic, one hand resting lightly on her shoulder and the other one cradling her hand. The doctor checked Max's vitals and made a few notes in the chart.

She glanced up at Alec. They'd done scans and tests on Max for hours. He had been by her side for every second of it, while Max remained unconscious through it all. The man seemed haggard and worried and no little battered himself. He looked a far cry from the smiling charmer that had come to see her just last week.

Shankar broke the silence. "Have you noticed any change?"

"No, nothing yet."

"Alec," she tried to keep her voice neutral, "maybe you should go home and get cleaned up, get some rest."

"No," he said as she shook his head. "I'm not leaving her. I know what happened last time she was here." He visibly tightened his grip on Max's hand. "I'll go home when she walks out of here." He ended the discussion by changing the subject, "What can you tell me from the scans?"

"The lab results should be ready shortly. Once I have them I'll be able to better understand her MRI films. I'll be back with some answers soon, I hope. "

Alec nodded and turned his eyes back to Max, dismissing the doctor all together. Shankar replaced the charts on the hook and debated whether or not to say anything else. In the end, she couldn't remain silent.

"Logan was brought in not too long after you and Max arrived," she said, once again keeping her tone carefully neutral. "He'd been badly beaten. But, I suppose you already knew that." She watched Alec watching Max. "He's in stable condition on the 5th floor. There was a young woman who arrived with him. The police are questioning her right now." When he didn't respond, she simply sighed and turned to leave.

Her hand was on the doorknob when Alec finally spoke. His voice was quiet and he sounded as weary as he looked.

"Shankar." She turned around, and he met her eyes and held them. "Stay here with her? I don't want her to wake up alone." She nodded, though she wasn't entirely sure whether it had been a request or a command. Alec pulled away from Max's side, squeezing her hand lightly before he released it. "I'll be back in ten," he said as he walked past Shankar and left the room.

On the fifth floor of the hospital, a couple of uniformed policeman chatted with a nurse just outside the room where Logan lay. Original Cindy stood at one end of the hall rather animatedly expressing herself to a young, East Asian policeman in plainclothes. Alec took the opportunity to listen in on their conversation as he approached from the other end of the hall.

"Look miss, could we just start –"

"And my name ain't 'miss', it's Original Cindy, ya heard!"

The policeman gave a long-suffering sigh before he continued. "Look Original Cindy, I didn't mean to offend you. It's just that some of the things you've told me about how you found Logan Cale just don't add up."

"Well Detective Sung, you sure 'nuff did offend. It sounds to me like you callin' Original Cindy a liar." She rolled her eyes and put one hand on her hip. "Just another po-po hasslin' a sistah." She noticed Alec walking down the hall towards her and gave him a subtle wink.

At the mention of the detective's name, a proverbial light bulb flickered on in Alec's head. Odds were that this was Detective Matt Sung, the very man who was constantly helping Logan and Max out on Eyes Only jobs. Alec was just passing Logan's room at that point. He surreptitiously glanced through the room's large window.

Logan slept on a hospital bed surrounded by monitors and various bags of fluid. His arm was in a cast and there were multiple bandages on his neck and face, including a particularly large one across his forehead. Alec surmised that he must've needed stitches to that gash on his head. He shrugged imperceptibly to himself. Ordinaries sure were fragile.

"Detective Sung," Alec said when he was just a few paces away from the debating duo. "I think I can help you in this investigation." He lowered his voice and locked eyes with the other man. "After all, you and I share some mutual friends. Logan, Max, Eyes Only…"

Sung started and just stared at Alec for a moment before taking him by the elbow and leading him a little farther down the hall. When he finally spoke it was in an urgent whisper, "Are you saying that what happened to Logan has to do with an Eyes Only mission?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. In fact, my real point is that if you push this before Logan can wake up and smooth a few things over, you'll be putting his life and Max's in serious danger from some very bad guys that could do them some very serious harm." Alec kept his explanation as vague as possible and hoped that the detective wouldn't ask any probing questions.

Sung nodded to himself as much as to Alec. "I see what you're saying." He sighed and said, "I owe both Logan and Max for saving my ass on more than one occasion. I'll trust that they know what they've gotten into." He reached into the breast pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a card. "Please, call me if they need anything, Mister…"

Alec took the card with one hand and offered his other to the detective. "It's Alec. And I will." Sung shook his hand, nodded once to Alec and then to OC, and left the hospital with his backup in tow.

Sighing in relief, OC put an arm around Alec's waist and leaned into him a little. He barely rested his hand on her shoulder. "How's my boo?"

"Still unconscious. We're waiting for the test results. She's no worse, at least." His eyes fell on Eyes Only. "Logan?" OC glanced up at Alec. She watched as the muscle in his jaw ticked and had some idea of what it cost him to ask after the other man.

"Docs been sayin' he's just sleepin' it off. He should be fine by morning, given the givens. Maybe the headache he'll have'll humble him a bit. Original Cindy knows he needs it." She gave Alec a small squeeze. "And how is my baby boo?"

"Oh you know me, OC. I'm always alright." He gave her his trademark smirk and planted a light kiss on the top of her head, before releasing her. "Thanks for asking, though." He started down the hall. It had been almost ten minutes and he needed to get back to Max.

"Anytime, baby boo," she whispered at his back. "Anytime." Alec was halfway to the elevator banks, but he heard her words and the concern behind them as loud as if she'd been standing right at his side.

* * *

When he got back to Max's room, Shankar didn't say a word to him. She simply gave him a small smile and a nod before she left. He immediately sat back down next to his friend. Alec brushed his fingertips over her cheek, needing to let her know he was there.

"Miss me, Maxie? Yeah, I know. How could you not?"

It was so strange how right it felt to touch her. For the past week, ever since that morning on top of the Space Needle, they'd been getting closer and closer. Alec wasn't exactly sure what had happened to change things, but that could be because thanks to some drug White shot him with he had a few too many holes in his memory where a whole day should be. Well, whatever happened that day to change how Max treated him, it was a gift horse that he certainly wasn't going to look in the mouth.

The important thing was that the change was one he'd definitely noticed and definitely felt, usually in the form of Max's fist or the back of her hand. That was how she'd always touched him, but it was much more frequent now. It seemed as though she couldn't spend more than fifteen minutes around him without hitting him at least once. Plus, there'd been more than a few times when Alec had ventured to put his arm around her shoulders and, while she always ended up shoving him away eventually, more often than not there was laughter in her eyes as she did so. They still enjoyed their arguments, and he loved nothing more than getting under her skin, but everything between them seemed so much warmer now.

"Did I tell you I got me a sweet ride today? It's quite the classic." He shrugged, "Could do with a little tweaking though. Maybe when you wake up, you'll show me a few gearhead tricks." He stopped speaking for a while. He just sat there, staring at her pale, sleeping face, and not noticing the passage of time.

He chuckled and made a face. "Of course I'm sure the first thing you'll tell me is that it will never be a match for your baby. I'll admit you're right," he paused to smirk at her, "but, only because I've had the pleasure of riding it."

He ran his fingers over the soft skin of her palm, noticing the Familiar's brand was fading practically before his eyes. That mark had been made almost a month ago, but it had been the most resilient wound he'd ever seen affect one of their kind. Now, its disappearance seemed to be accelerating all of a sudden. He studied the mark closely for a moment, wondering if the snake poison was somehow making the effects of the cure even harder on her system.

A mild tremor that ran from Max's head to her heels was all the warning he had before her entire body jackknifed from the violent force of a seizure. Alec was practically thrown aside when it caught him off guard.

"No, no, no, Maxie."

He slammed his hand onto the red call button used to contact the nurses station. The heart monitor beeped wildly to mirror the frantic hammering that Alec could hear within Max's chest. Static crackled from the speaker through which the nurses' station communicated. Before anyone on the other end could ask what the problem was, Alec spoke.

"She's having another seizure. Get Shankar." Suddenly, Max's eyelids flicked up and Alec found himself looking into the two largest feline eyes he'd ever seen. "Max?" Alec's voice was a shocked whisper that he didn't even hear. She gasped once before a sound that was half yowl half scream burst from her throat. The seizure threw her head back on the pillow and bowed her back as much as the wrist and ankle restraints would allow.

As quickly as it began, the seizure was over. Max's body lay still upon the hospital bed. Her eyes were once again closed. The monitor gave the piercing wail of a heart stopped.

Alec jumped onto the bed, straddling Max with his knees. He began chest compressions, pressing down on her chest hard enough to crack the breastplate of an ordinary. He yelled as he pounded on her body, "Come on, you can't do this!" Two nurses came running in. Alec's head whipped around toward them. "Get a goddamn doctor in here!"

One of the nurses turned and left the room, while the other kept on toward the bed. She grabbed an oxygen bag from the cabinet above the bed and immediately began respirations on Max to match Alec's continual chest compressions.

A full minute later Shankar came running in, pushing a crash cart ahead of her. The second nurse as well as a third followed on her heels.

"Give her 2amps of epi and charge the D-fib to 30," Shankar ordered. One nurse grabbed a vial and a syringe out of a drawer in the cart while the other started flipping switches on the defibrillator.

"Charging."

The nurse with the syringe depressed the liquid into Max's IV. "Two amps epi!" A high-pitched whine that indicated the current was had reached 30 volts sounded over the wail of the heart monitor.

"Move Alec!" At Shankar's command, he leapt down to the opposite side of the bed so that she could reach Max. She grabbed a pair of rectangular paddles from the crash cart. "Clear!" The first nurse pulled the oxygen bag away from Max's face just as Shankar pressed the paddles to the transgenic's chest. As the first charge of electricity jolted through her, Max's body was lifted from the bed again.

The wail was interrupted with one quick beep as the current passed through the transgenic's heart, but sounded once again as she continued to flatline.

"Charge to 50."

"Charging."

"Clear!"

Again and again the doctor blasted electricity through Max's system, lifting her body from the bed. Again and again her brother's heart refused to pump.

"Damn it, Max," muttered Shankar through clenched teeth.

Alec suddenly realized that the problem was. They were transgenics. Every part, every bone, every muscle in their bodies was built tough. "It's not high enough!"

"Alec, she can't take –"

"Don't argue with me, she can. Now up the fucking current!"

Shankar hesitated for a fraction of a second then turned to her nurse. "Charge to 300." The young woman looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "Now damn it!" The nurse turned the dial all the way up and then stepped back as if to distance herself from the madness.

"Clear!"

There was silence for a second, and that second seemed to go on forever in Alec's mind. Then a steady beep-beep-beep began as Max's heart finally picked up its rhythm. Shankar hung her head for a moment and breathed a sign of absolute relief. As they reset the crash cart, the nurses marveled that the patient was brought back at all. Not one of the women in the room noticed how Alec's grip on the side of the bed had actually dented the guardrail.

* * *

Shankar took a deep breath and began. "Whatever was in that cure managed to launch a full scale attack on Max's endocrine system, which is highly volatile and highly sensitive to perturbation."

Alec sat straight in his chair with all his attention focused on the doctor. He was listening closely for any kernel that might be the clue to bringing Max back to herself. His hand was locked on the comatose woman's, his fingers tangled with her own as they had since she'd been pulled back from the brink of death. Shankar stood in front of him holding Max's chart and the results of numerous tests. X-ray film was illuminated and mounted against the wall behind the petite woman. Her voice had taken on the tone of a university lecturer.

"It has severely upset Max's physiological balance." She waved her pen in front of images of several cross-sections of the transgenic's brain as if to illustrate her point…as if Alec knew what the hell he was looking at. "All animal behaviors," she continued, "are essentially caused by the chemicals produced by that particular animal's brain. Within any animal these chemicals are balanced by systems that modern science still has not fully grasped. Particularly in humans, this balance is very fragile. And, what I think Max has shown us is that the balance within a transgenic is even more so as a result of all the different animals that make up what you are."

"Well," Alec said under his breath, "that theory would certainly explain all of the insane anomalies that Manticore kept in the basement."

Shankar, having heard him, locked shocked eyes on Alec for a moment. When he gestured for her to continue, she took a deep breath. "The best I can determine is that whatever this foreign agent was caused her body to overproduce naturally occurring chemicals associated with her chimeric DNA. Those chemicals in turn threw her entire system out of whack. I'm not just talking about the physical either…though I have to admit that those eyes are pretty damn scary," she said the last as if speaking to herself. "I'm talking about her mental and emotional makeup as well. This would account for both the behavioral changes that you mentioned to me as well as the change in her scent you noticed. Her MRI showed some incredible brain activity, even in her present state."

"There are no limits. What the mind can conceive the body can achieve," Alec repeated the words that had been barked at him so often back at Manticore. He sighed. "So how do we stop it?"

"We don't." She held up a hand to stave off Alec's angry exclamations. "What I mean is, we can't. We're not even close to having the technology to cook up something that could reverse the process. Besides, her body has already started to reject the effects of the cure. That's what the fever was, and most likely why her heart stopped. She was burning off the excess and attempting to jump start herself, for lack of better phrasing. As far as I can tell, it has run fully through her system at this point. This," she nodded her head toward Max's comatose form, "is just the aftermath. All we can do now is keep watch and hope that her body will naturally right itself."

Shankar observed in amazement as Alec's face completely shut down. It was as if all the emotion and life just drained from it. He became absolutely still. She'd never seen anyone do that. It was as if she were staring at a statue, not a person. She wondered if she would be able sense him sitting there at all if she were to look away. Was he even breathing? Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to grab him by the shoulders and shake the life back into him. She chose to speak to him instead, hoping that might be enough. "Max's condition is stable at least. And that's something."

"Yeah," Alec whispered, his eyes turned to Max's serene face. "That's something." He watched her chest rise and fall with each breath. Suddenly, he stood and began unfastening the restraints that bound Max to the bed.

"What are you doing?"

"These are unnecessary." After freeing one wrist, he moved around the bed, releasing first one ankle and then the other.

"You're the one who insisted upon them in the first place, Alec."

"Yeah, and now I'm taking them off." His wasn't making much sense to her and he knew it. But he didn't much care at the moment. He just couldn't bear to look at Max trussed up one moment longer. He could feel Shankar staring at him. "Would you let Cindy know what the situation is. She's still up on Logan's floor, probably in the lounge."

"Sure, of course."

The doctor left and Alec sat beside Max once again. Her hand was immediately back in his. He noticed that the skin of one of her knuckles was split. He gently ran his thumb over the abrasion. It was already healing, along with the all other physical evidence of their brawl.

_This must have happened on that last punch to the mouth she gave me_, he thought to himself. He brushed his lips softly over the wound.

She was still so pale. She reminded him of another sick young woman by whose bedside he'd once sat. The memory assaulted him, and he closed his eyes against it. He extended every sense he had out to the very real, very alive woman lying on the bed beside him now. Her scent was already back to normal. He took a deep breath as though he could fill himself with the comforting familiarity of it. He was reassured by the warmth of her wrist and the gentle thump of her steady pulse against the palm of his hand. He could hear her breathing. It just sounded like she was asleep. No matter how fragile she might look at the moment, he reminded himself, she was strong. She was stronger than anyone he'd ever known. She would get better. She wouldn't die on him.

"You're gonna wake up pretty soon and yell at me as usual."

Despite his best effort, his voice cracked on the words. Unbidden, a stinging sensation began behind his closed eyes and a whimper bubbled up in his throat, seeking escape. He laid his head down on their hands, hiding his face from anyone who might look in on them. He had to keep it together, for both their sakes. He couldn't protect Max if he was a weeping wreck. He inhaled deeply, breathing in her scent again. It calmed him, reassured him. The tears slid silently down his cheeks now. He gripped her hand like a lifeline, holding it close to his face. He sat like that for hours. Not moving, or sleeping, or even thinking, held in his own stasis as long as Max remained in hers.

* * *

She woke slowly. The first thing she noticed was how cold she was. So very cold except for one hand, which was very warm and…wet. She seemed to be holding on to something. Whatever it was, it was shaking slightly and sending fine tremors up her arm. She squeezed her hand and was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath.

She felt the surface she was on shift under new weight. Slowly, she opened her normal, dark brown eyes. She was lying in a hospital bed. There was just no mistaking the ugly taupe ceiling. A pair of hazel eyes circled in green, dark with worry, and shimmering with something else, slowly came into view.

"Alec?" Her voice was hoarse, and her throat hurt like hell.

"Hey there, Maxie." The smile she was rewarded with was encouraging, relieved, and seemed a little sad. "Welcome back."

"What," she swallowed and tried again, "What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

Max closed her eyes for a moment and tried to think, tried to enforce a bit of order within her throbbing head. The images that came at her in a rush were chaotic and made her head throb harder. But one memory rose to the forefront with a sharpness so acute it snapped her eyes open and sat her up on the bed with a sudden gasp.

"Oh my god! Joshua! I threw him in the basement!"

"Shhh, shhh," Alec calmed her with his voice while firmly gripping her shoulders to keep her on the bed. "It's okay. I got him out already, don't worry. He wasn't even down there that long."

She seemed to calm down at his words. What Alec didn't know was that the day's events were playing back from start to finish in fast forward through Max's mind. She was overwhelmed with emotions and images: hitting Sketchy, stealing in broad daylight, cat and mouse, Joshua, fighting in the rain, fierce joy right before the kill, Logan, Alec, drawing blood like an animal. All these thoughts passed through mind behind her still face while Alec nodded and smiled at her reassuringly, lightly rubbing his hands up and down her arms. So it was to his absolute shock when she burst into tears.

"I'm a monster," she wailed. "I'm a 'nomalie, just like Ben. It should have been me." Alec didn't understand what she was saying, but he could relate to the anguish in her voice. He pulled her close. "It should have been me," she quietly declared.

Max was a broken, sobbing heap in his arms. Her pain tore through her chest and her body shook with it like a small willow caught in a whirlwind. Alec held her tightly. She fisted her hands in his shirt. Her tears seeped through to soak his chest beneath her cheek. One of his hands cradled the base of her head, holding it in place. He bent his lips to her silky hair and ruffled the strands with whispers of soothing nonsense. His other hand smoothed over her back in gentle strokes. In an effort to comfort her, he rubbed his cheek against her top of her head, unconsciously trying to use his familiar scent to calm her.

"Shhh. Shhh. You're not a monster. We are what we are, Maxie."

"Why can't I just be normal?" After a moment Alec pulled away a bit to stare into her sad brown eyes. Their warm breath mingled in the small distance between them. He cocked his head to the side and put on an expression of thoughtful seriousness.

"Well, I could buy you a pair of black rimmed glasses, and you could call me Rock Star." He raised an eyebrow above suddenly laughing eyes. "But if you start yelling 'Bip, bip, bip' we're gonna have a real problem."

Max blinked damp lashes at him for a stunned moment before laughter forced its way past her tears. Alec smiled lightly and cupped her wet cheeks in his strong palms, wiping at the tears with his thumbs.

"You know," he said quietly, "a normal girl can't execute a killer heist. A normal girl can't fix a motorcycle while blindfolded with one arm tied behind her back. A normal girl can't leap tall buildings in a single bound," he chuckled. "A normal girl's got nothing on you, Maxie."

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose. He brushed his mouth over each damp cheek. Her lips were trembling. Without thinking, Alec stilled them with his own. He could feel the blood rushing through his body and his heartbeat was a loud boom in his chest rivaled only by the sound of Max's own steady thumping.

This wasn't the first time Max had felt the softness of Alec's lips. But the incident under the docks when he'd been unconscious paled in comparison to the strength and heat she now felt in his sensuous caress. His strong hands moved from her cheeks to tangle in the wavy mass of her hair as he pulled her mouth more firmly into his. She clutched at his shirt with an iron grip as if he were a lifeline and she a drowning woman. Her tongue swept over the cut on his lip, soothing the sting away.

He pressed his lips against hers until she opened to him with a small gasp. His tongue glided into the warm cavern of her mouth. Her sweet taste was like nothing he'd ever had before. Their breath merged as their mouths did. There was no thought left in either transgenic's mind. There was nothing but the naked sensation of closeness. It was a closeness that neither of them had ever truly experienced before. It felt so very right.

Alec was the first to pull away. For a moment Max sat perfectly still, her eyes closed. He couldn't move at all. He was mesmerized by the black crescent moons that her long lashes made against her cheeks. Her tongue peeked out and slowly licked across her lips as if tasting the remnant of his kiss. A strangled sound escaped his throat at the sight. Max's eyes fluttered open like she was waking from a dream. He saw her come back to herself, awareness flooding into her eyes. He gave her a small half smile.

Then her forceful shove sent him flying off the bed to land on his ass on the cold linoleum floor. It only took him a moment to regain his wits.

"What the hell was that!" Alec's only slightly shocked gaze locked on her face. A fire burned in the brown depths of her beautiful eyes, but whether with passion or anger or both, he couldn't be sure.

"That's what I'd like to know, pretty boy!" Before the recriminations could fly, OC walked into the room.

"Boo! You're awake!" The pretty human woman rushed over to her best friend and wrapped her in a strong hug. "Don't you ever scare Original Cindy like that again, you hear?"

Alec stood and dusted imaginary dirt from the seat of his pants. He cleared his throat and said, "I'll just go get the doc." As usual, the two women didn't pay him any mind, but that made no difference to him. She was back. There was a lightness in his step and is his heart as he headed toward the door. And there was a genuine smile on his face that Max caught out of the corner of her eye as he left the room.

* * *

The hospital lounge was dimly lit and sparsely furnished. A few worn chairs with threadbare cushions were placed at irregular intervals and rickety, low tables holding a few old magazines were scattered here and there. A television stamped with "Property of Harbor Lights Hospital" was bolted high in one corner of the room. It droned on quietly in the background, playing one of those pre-dawn news shows for the benefit of the unfortunate souls who had to get up and go before the sun.

The lounge was empty but for Alec, who paced back and forth the length of the room. Someone watching might have thought he was trying to wear a hole into the cheap linoleum floor. A look of consuming concentration was upon his face, furrowing his brow and giving his eyes a faraway look. The tip of his thumb was being fiercely gnawed upon. It would get a bit of reprieve every few minutes when he would run his hand through the hair at the back of his head and down over his barcode.

He glanced down to the other end of the hallway, where he could see the closed door to Max's room. Dr. Shankar was in there with her and Original Cindy. Once Alec had gotten the doctor down there, he'd left them alone. It wasn't just that he knew all about Max's hang ups about privacy, he also needed a little space to think. The lounge was the perfect spot. He was close enough to see Max's room and anyone coming or going, but he was out of her immediate line of sight. There was no doubt that Max would know he wasn't far away should she need him. He never was.

So he moved about the lounge, trying to work the tension that had built up over the course of that insane day through his system. He was relieved beyond words that Max was awake and apparently herself. Except for the crying thing. And except for the kissing him back thing. At those thoughts, Alec increased the speed of his pacing.

What had he been thinking when he leaned into Max's full lips? All he'd wanted was for her to feel that she wasn't alone. He'd needed her to understand that no matter what the fallout from the day's events would be, he would have her back. He wanted her to feel strong and sure again, would have given her some of his own strength to make her so. At the time it had seemed perfectly logical to kiss her.

His thumb was back between his teeth. Who was he kidding? There was no logic. He'd kissed her because she was Max, and because to not have kissed her in that one window of opportunity would have killed something inside of him. Well, it could have ended much worse than it did. He smirked to himself. Sure he'd ended up on his ass, but she hadn't cursed him or belittled him or said that she hated him. She hadn't thrown him out of her life. And, for a moment, no matter how brief, she'd been kissing him back.

He glanced down toward her room again, then sighed and turned back to the lounge. Just in time to see footage of the sector cops gunning down a transhuman earlier in the day, followed by extremely blurry hoverdrone footage, so blurry that it could never be used to truly identify the individual depicted. Of course, Alec knew who it was. He recognized the woman standing in the rain-filled night wearing dark glasses and pointing the gun that now rested at the small of his back. He stared unmoving at the screen, listening as the anchorwoman recounted the news.

"While these stories may or may not be related, eyewitness reports match this woman to one described as having super-human strength who terrorized a local motorcycle dealership yesterday afternoon. And anonymous tipsters have been claiming the existence of what they call X-Series Transgenics. Mutant soldiers who look just like regular people."

For a moment, Alec forgot to breathe. "This is bad," he said to himself. "This is so, so very bad."

* * *

As it was taken off her arm, the blood pressure cuff made that ripping sound that indicates the presence of Velcro. OC perched on the bed beside her, arm linked in one of hers as the doctor checked her over.

"Well your vitals and responses seem to be back to normal, Max. How do you feel?"

The brunette shrugged at Shankar's question. "Like I've been battered, beaten, poked, prodded, and blasted with lots of electricity. You know, a regular day in the life. So, can I go now?"

"Max, you are still weak, and, while you're not acting completely out of character, you're probably still suffering from a certain amount of chemical imbalance." She sighed, "But, for all that, I highly doubt Alec is going to let me keep you here much longer."

"Yeah Boo," OC piped up, "your boy's been mad protective of you while you was out."

Max shook her head at both of them, not wanting to discuss Alec at the moment. Instead she asked, "Exactly what do you mean by chemical imbalance?"

"I mean that your body is most likely still regulating its systems. As a result you may experience some extreme sensations and your emotions may be closer to the surface. You may find you have less control."

"You mean something is taking me over? It's not really me?" The note in Max's voice was hopeful while at the same time wary.

"No, it's still fundamentally you: your thoughts, your actions, your instincts. You'll just be more likely to express it all. Think of it like getting PMS."

"I don't get PMS." When the other two women just looked at her askance she continued in a defensive tone, "I don't! I go into heat every once in a while. That's my cycle."

"Coulda fooled me," muttered OC.

"Cindy!"

"What?"

Max rolled her eyes at her best friend and turned back to Shankar. "So how long before this bitch works itself out and I'm back in control?"

"I'd say, a few more hours, at least.

Max made a face. "Oh, that's just great," wry sarcasm dripped from every word. She was rethinking the her whole 'leave the hospital ASAP' plan. She lifted one of the leather arm restraints that was hanging off the dented guardrail. "Maybe we ought to just put these back on to keep me out of trouble." She paused for a minute, then raised one finely-arched eyebrow. "You wouldn't happen to have a set for my lips, would you?"

* * *

Alec sighed and walked away from the television toward the large window that sat high above the front parking lot of the hospital. He eyes drifted over the skyline of sleeping Seattle. Well, he'd known all along that it would have to end sometime. Soon all the people down there would know all about the existence of his kind. Soon all those ordinaries struggling to survive in this broken world, as Max called it, would become his enemies. Too bad. He'd really started to love sharing in their filth and degradation. It was kind of fun.

Movement in the parking lot caught his eye. Several vehicles had pulled into the area. Men in dark suits were getting out of nondescript, four-door sedans. The hair on the back of his neck was already standing on end when he used his transgenic eyesight to zoom in for a closer look. They were definitely packing heat. He could tell by the minute bulges along the lines of their suits.

The back door to one of the cars had just opened. The boogie man stepped out into the not quite darkness that heralds the dawn. As if sensing Alec's gaze, White turned and looked up at the window. For two heartbeats the two men just stared at each other. Then White smiled the anticipatory grin of a natural predator. And Alec disappeared from the window.

Less than ten seconds later, Alec barged into Max's room and barked out one word, "White."

At the name, Max immediately yanked out her IV and ripped off the adhesive pads connecting her to the numerous beeping monitors. She pulled the hospital gown over her head without a thought to her state of undress.

"OC," Alec ordered, "get to Logan's room now and stay there. If anyone approaches, call Sung." He reached into his pocket and tossed her the detective's card. "Shankar, your shift is over." He tore Max's charts from the clipboard and stuffed them in his jacket. "Move!" he yelled at the two ordinaries when he noticed that they hesitated beside Max. He went to his weak friend as she tried to stand. He steadied her with one hand while pulling her Glock out of the waistband of his pants and clicking off the safety. At the sight of the gun, Shankar and OC finally got the hint and made a hasty exit.

OC took one look back at the two transgenics. "Take care of yo'selves, boos."

Alec gave her a quick grin. "Yes, Ma'am."

He kept his eyes on the door and his ears at their farthest range while Max dressed as swiftly as she could beside him. He heard the telltale footfalls all too soon.

"Alec?" There was a note of panic in Max's voice that he wasn't used to hearing.

"Window." She moved to the back of the room and lifted the pane of glass, while Alec kept his focus and his gun on the door. She scanned the darkness behind the hospital.

"Clear," she said, before easing herself onto the narrow ledge. She moved carefully, still feeling weak and not quite herself. She felt Alec at her back and gained a little confidence. He'd never let her fall. Once she was securely perched, Alec pulled himself after. The door to her room burst open just as Alec pulled her body into his and leapt. Somehow he managed to sweep his arm under her knees so that he was cradling her body during the latter half of their free fall. He hit the ground blurring, not stopping until he'd reached her Ninja, which was parked between two large dumpsters that hid it from any cursory glances.

He set her on her feet beside the bike and then immediately hopped on and started the bike.

"You are so not driving my baby!"

"Ride now, argue later!" He lifted her up in the air and brought her down so fast that she had no choice but to straddle his lap facing him. Max's yelp of surprise was lost as he gunned the engine. Almost immediately several vehicles were on their tail, chasing them with screaming sirens and a hail of bullets.

Alec tried to concentrate on keeping them alive as he wove through the early morning traffic at breakneck speed. He tried to focus on keeping out of the path of the many bullets whizzing past them. But it was really hard when Max was in his lap. Her warm thighs were naked but for her tiny skirt. And his superior memory kept flashing to the vision of her red panties when she'd kicked him earlier that night.

His reason screamed at his libido. _Get your other head in the game, soldier!_

Max made herself as small as possible so it would be easier for Alec to maneuver their combined weight through traffic. Her hands gripped his hips and her head was pressed into his chest. Her knees were tucked in tight and her feet rested firmly on the passenger pegs. She was as stable as she could make herself, and as helpful as she could be to Alec. Adrenaline was pumping through her system, and it was making her all more aware of the emotional instability that Shankar had mentioned. For, despite the perils of their present situation, all Max could think about was how good Alec smelled and how reassuring the steady thump of his heart was underneath her cheek.

Close as she was, Max felt the force of the bullet when it tore through Alec's body. She heard it whistle passed her ear just after it exited his shoulder. He grunted in pain and the bike wavered for a moment before he quickly brought it under control.

"Alec!"

"I'm fine." The words were forced through clenched teeth. Max could hear his pain, and something inside her clicked on.

_Threat. Survive. Protect._

Without another thought, she reached up with one small hand to apply pressure to the wound while her other hand reached around his waist beneath his leather jacket to wrap around the handle of her Glock. She didn't hesitate as she pulled the gun from the back of his pants and sighted their pursuers. The clip was almost full, she recalled, but she still planned to make every bullet count.

Her arm blurred as she used transgenic speed to aim and fire. Tires blew out and hoods popped up, causing the cars leading the chase to slam into one another. The driver of the car coming just behind the vehicles she'd disabled slammed on his breaks to avoid hitting the others, but the driver tailing him did not. The last car flew through the air after riding over the trunk of his fellow and ended with a crash on its side.

"Clear," Max whispered at Alec's ear, knowing that he'd hear her even over the driving wind and the roar of the Ninja.

She looked down at the weapon she'd just used. The gun felt natural in her hand. Firing the gun had felt even more natural. She blinked a few times and glanced up. She could still see the smoke from the wrecked vehicles rising against the lightening horizon. She wasn't sure how she should react to the sight or to the knowledge that she'd caused it with a gun. Her gun.

When she'd been recaptured by Manticore and thrust back into their training program, she been forcibly reacquainted with firearms. It was either that or face more time in cramped solitary. But, during all the drills and target practices, she'd still never felt comfortable with guns. She could always feel the weight of Eva's death in the cold metal in her hands, and the guilt and remorse had been almost unbearable. After all, Eva had aimed at Lydecker to protect her.

But, something had changed today. She'd spent the day traipsing around the city packing heat without a care in the world and without any thoughts to consequences or deeper meanings or emotional baggage. That probably increased her comfort level just a hair. For the first time since she'd been a child with her siblings back at Manticore, Max had felt no guilt, no remorse, no regrets. There were just her wants and her needs, her instincts and her desires. Everything had been simple, and it had felt so good to just _be _and not control it all.

Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. Sure, she needed to exert a certain amount of discipline and control over her instincts. Her survival depended on it. The survival and sanity of all the transgenics depended on their ability to keep that balance. She knew that. But, could she have been imbalanced before, when she was trying to hide all her instincts and blend, trying to be something and someone that she really was not? Alec said that she wasn't a monster, and she had to believe him. Because at the moment she just couldn't bring herself to feel guilty for her instinct to survive. And she wouldn't feel guilty for making sure that Alec did too.

It was all too much to deal with right now, too many thoughts and feelings clamoring around in her head. Max put more pressure on Alec's wound. His grunt of pain moved her attention away from herself. "We need to stop and check your wound."

"Not this close to White. I can wait until we get there. Won't be too much longer, and I've traveled farther with worse."

"Where's there?"

"Terminal City."

* * *

Logan awoke in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable bed. Well, to be fair, it may have been uncomfortable only because he was sore from scalp to soles. Where was he and why the hell did he feel like he'd been hit by the family yacht? He tried to sit up.

"Hey," a sassy voice called from the door of the room. "Hey, take it easy, Sugah."

He glanced over to the speaker and croaked, "Cindy?" His voice was raspy and raw from almost being choked to death.

She walked over to him and gave him a small smile. "That would be me. How're you feeling."

"Oh, just great." Transgenics weren't the only ones who could be sarcastic. "Where's Max?" He struggled to pull himself upright. He couldn't stand to face the world from his back.

"It's a'ight," the black beauty assured him. "You're both safe."

"Cindy, where is she?" His tone had taken on an edge that had nothing to do with his abused throat. The need to have all the facts, the need to be in the know, was what always drove him. It was enough to make him forget his physical pain for a moment.

She calmly sat down and patted the older man's hand. "Relax, it's all good. She's with Alec."

After a moment of staring at her, Logan began laughing with the hysterical sound of someone on the edge of his sanity. "She's with Alec. Of course she is."

OC just shook her head as she watched his reaction. She really did hate to see a grown man cry.

**TBC**


	9. Strength in Numbers

**Chapter 9: Strength in Numbers**

The sun had fully broken over the horizon by the time Alec and Max found themselves in relative safety within the toxic blocks of Terminal City. It had taken them a bit of time to find a hole in the tall fence surrounding the transgenic haven that was large enough for the Ninja to roll through. Leaving the motorcycle outside of the perimeter was absolutely out of the question. They just couldn't risk that White might come across it and track them inside. Besides, Max probably would've thrown a fit if Alec had suggested they leave her baby out unprotected.

At the moment, Max was quiet and small in his lap. Beneath the rumble of the bike's engine he could hear her deep breaths. The smell of her, warm and pleasant, filled his senses. Despite all the events of that morning and his present physical state, he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so calm. The comforting weight of Max's head resting upon his chest was a distraction from the throbbing of his wound. He pulled into a dank, multi-storied garage and headed for the farthest corner, which was shrouded in deep shadow. He stopped the bike and cut the engine. Silence descended heavily around them.

Max released her grip on his shoulder once he had a free hand to apply the necessary pressure himself. The palm of her hand was stained with his blood. As she unwrapped her legs from his thighs and stepped back from the bike, she noticed that Alec avoided looking at her. She was suddenly aware of just how little she was wearing and could feel the warmth of a faint blush coloring her cheeks. She silently handed him her Glock. He just as silently took it from her and tucked it once again at the small of his back before getting off the bike. He was turned away from her for a moment and she could see that the bullet's entry point was bleeding just as profusely as the exit wound. The shoulder of Alec's leather jacket was a red ruin.

"We need to dress that."

He grunted his agreement. "There's a medic here with field supplies. That's where we're heading."

"Oh. Okay." She fell into step next to him as he led them out of the garage. She didn't move as far away from him as he'd expected. As a matter of fact, as they walked the silent streets, she remained so close beside him that, though they were not touching, he could feel the gentle heat of her body though his clothes.

The narrow avenues and trash-strewn alleyways of Terminal City were empty in the dawn light. For once, it wasn't raining, but the air still carried a damp chill. The low temperature went mostly unnoticed by the two X5's. The bullet hole in Alec's shoulder was burning a bit, leaving him less inclined to his usual chatter. Yet, his thoughts were less for himself and more for his companion. Max had been strangely quiet since he'd told her they were heading for TC.

He was sure that she was no longer the feral version of herself that had walked into Jam Pony the day before. For one, her familiar scent was no longer overlaid with that 'otherness'. For another, she was moving differently. Her hips didn't sway in the same mesmerizing way that they had when she was stalking and fighting him. Sure, it was still difficult not to admire her inherent grace, but there was no longer seduction in her every step. She was no longer radiating the kind of overwhelming sexual, animalistic energy that had surrounded her yesterday. At the moment, she reminded him more of a skittish doe than a panther on the prowl.

Alec bit his lip and glanced at her walking silently beside him. He wasn't used to this quiet, contemplative Max. She didn't seem broody or melancholy or generally depressed. After all, he would have found those moods pretty normal for Max. No, it was something else. Alec briefly wondered if she was thinking about the kiss they'd shared. But he discarded the possibility as unlikely, since she wasn't beating on him or berating him for ruining her life or displaying any of the other melodramatic behaviors that he'd expect from her given the circumstances.

Maybe she was thinking about Logan. Yeah, that was more likely. She was probably riddled with guilt and just waiting for the opportunity to begin the self-flagellation while bemoaning her very existence. It was more in sync with Alec's view of their world to believe that she was thinking about her not-like-that boyfriend rather than to hope that she was at ease with the kiss they'd shared.

An errant breeze blew Max's long hair across her cheeks. She reached up distractedly to brush the waves behind her ears. She was trying hard to avoid thinking about anything. She focused on taking in every detail of the dilapidated buildings they passed by. She concentrated on the calming warmth of Alec that she could feel even across the several inches that separated them. As long as they were moving through this silence she could exist within a protective bubble. As long as they walked these empty streets, there was no need to confront her actions of the day before, no need to face consequences or wrestle with her inner self to regain balance and control.

She glanced at her companion, briefly catching him watching her before his eyes moved away to scan their surroundings. Max studied his profile for a moment. He looked terrible. The worse she'd ever seen him. There were dark bags under his normally bright eyes, and there was a marked rounding to his shoulders. The bruises on his skin had faded to an unhealthy yellow overshadowing the normal tan of his skin. The deep furrows across his forehead and the set of his jaw made Max believe that the gunshot wound to his shoulder was causing him more pain than he'd admit.

Her lips pulled down in a slight frown. She hoped that the little incident between them at the hospital wasn't going to get in the way of their newfound level of comfort. She might not admit it outright, but Max needed him around. With him she felt more stable, more secure, and like more of a transgenic. Though she'd probably never tell him, Max was grateful for Alec. If something like this had happened to her a year ago, there wouldn't have been anyone out there to have her back, or to hold her back. She would have done a lot more damage. Maybe that was what happened to Ben. As much as Max liked to pretend that she was an independent and self-sufficient bitch, the truth was their kind, born and bred in units, just really weren't meant to be all alone.

Alec stole another glance to his side, studying Max's profile for some inkling as to what was going on inside her head. Well, she didn't look particularly sad or guilt-ridden or even angry. She looked as if she were concentrating really, really hard on something. Her eyes were slightly unfocused and there were lines above the bridge of her nose and across her forehead. The sight of her expression pushed his curiosity over the brink. He had to know what she was thinking about.

"He's okay, you know," Alec said into the stillness.

Not understanding what he was talking about, Max looked at him and asked, "What?"

"Logan. He's okay. Cindy is with him at the hospital. He's probably awake by now. It's too dangerous for you to go back and see him. But you could call him. That'd be safe enough, since I put a scrambler on your phone. You know, if you want." Alec realized he was babbling, so he clamped his lips together and shrugged.

Before Max could respond, there was a glimmer of movement beside one of the buildings on the block ahead of them. The two X5's stopped in their tracks at the same moment. Alec's hand went to the butt of his run resting at the small of his back. Max dropped down into a defensive crouch behind him and slightly to his side.

After a heartbeat the shotgun facing them lowered. An acrid cloud surrounded green fatigue-clad shoulders and an equally green face as it emerged from a dark alley. The approaching figure took a long pull on his cigar. "Oh," he said before removing the stub from his mouth and waving it toward Alec. "You again."

Alec's hand pulled away from his own gun and Max took that as a sign to ease out of her stance. She moved from behind him, but stayed close. "Nice to see you too, Mole."

"How many times do I gotta tell ya that your kind belong over on Oak Street?"

"I need to find Eve."

Mole glanced pointedly at Alec's shoulder and scoffed. "You thin skinned X-Series, always getting into shit you can't handle."

Max'd had enough. Ever word out of Scaly's yellow-teethed mouth was raising her hackles. Where the hell did he get off judging an X5? She put her hand firmly on one jutting hip and sneered at the transhuman. "We handled the men who shot him just fine. Not all of us have gone soft here on the outside, lizard boy." A glimmer of the feral energy that she'd radiated before her coma was back in her eyes.

Mole took a step forward, jabbing his cigar in her direction with accusation and heat. "If you let those Ordinaries follow you here—"

Alec stepped between the two and silenced Mole with a cold, hard look. "I know how to clean up after myself," he said quietly. The steely menace beneath the words made his threat clear to the other man. He felt Max's bewildered gaze on him, but he keep his eyes locked with Mole's. When he was sure he saw understanding in the other man's eyes, he took a step back. "I'd stay and chat, but I'm bleeding." He reached behind him and took Max's arm leading her past the transhuman soldier.

They rounded a corner and Alec released her arm. She glanced once behind them to see if the transhuman was going to follow, but they were alone on the street. Her eyes moved to Alec, who once again had his hand firmly pressed against his wound. She thought she detected a hint of pain in the lines around his eyes, and tried to distract him with a little conversation.

She pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "What crawled under his scales and died?"

Alec grunted, "I think he just assimilated one too many history vids on Schwartzkoff back at Manticore." A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, "And probably no few old, pre-governator Schwartzenegger flicks here on the outside."

Max chuckled. "Well, that certainly would explain his fashion sense. And his smell." Alec joined in her quiet laughter, some of the tension at her earlier silence draining from him. He once again felt sure that everything was going to work out. If Max was laughing and joking, things couldn't really be all that bad, could they? And if she didn't want to talk about Logan, that was just fine by him.

He lead them through the rubble-strewn streets, passing the derelict buildings that were testament to how truly abandoned this zone was. The farther they walked, the more activity Max noticed. The closer to the center of Terminal City they got, the more transhumans and anomalies walked in the rosy shadows of the early morning light. Some singly, others in small groups, they all seemed to be heading in the same direction that she and Alec were.

The two X5's rounded a final corner and were suddenly faced with a large building that seemed to be the center of activity. It was a squat structure, the surrounding skyscrapers dwarfing it and also hiding it from view. Central Command, which looked like it used to be some sort of warehouse with adjacent offices, easily spanned half a city block. Max could see at least four sentries in position on the roofs of taller neighboring buildings, and she was pretty sure that there were more hidden from view. They may have been free of Manticore, but old habits die hard, and the transgenics that inhabited this part of Terminal City were far from safe in the outside world.

Three feet away from the doorway to the building Max put her hand on Alec's upper arm. Her grip was soft, but it brought him to a complete halt. "Alec…" She trailed off, not sure how to express what she'd been trying to ignore since they'd arrived within the perimeter.

He watched the vulnerability from the hospital sneak back across her features. His gaze softened and he nodded at her encouragingly. "Yeah, Maxie?"

She took a breath and plunged ahead. "I'm still not totally myself. At least, I don't think I am. Shankar said I might be kind of…reactive and, uh, emotional." She looked away from Alec's hazel eyes before continuing, "I feel…shaky. I'm – I'm just not sure what might happen once we get around other people. Don't let me do any sort of damage in there." She met his eyes again. "Please?"

Alec had some idea what that confession cost her. It was a hard thing for one of their kind to show any sort of weakness. That Max would not only share her doubts with him, but also look to him for help showed she trusted him more than he'd ever expected her to. "Don't worry," he said seriously, "I've got your back."

With Alec's simple phrase echoing her thoughts from just a few moments ago and confirming what she knew in her heart, sudden relief flowed over Max like a warm breeze. She gave him a completely unguarded and sincere smile, one that very few people outside of her siblings had ever seen. It was an expression of security that she didn't often feel. "Thanks."

The effect of that smile on Alec was tremendous. For a moment, he couldn't focus on anything other than her face. The pain of his wound couldn't even break through the haze that clouded all his senses in the radiance of her smile. After a moment he realized he was just staring at her. He tried hard to make his expression and his voice offhand. "Any time, Maxie. C'mon."

The interior of the building was very dimly lit, not that it mattered to the transgenics milling about. However, there were a few old clip lights with dented aluminum shells hanging above tables that were strategically set in various spots on the ground floor. It was, as Max had suspected, an abandoned warehouse with an upper level of offices set back in the shadows. She could see exposed pipes running alongside several catwalks that hung at intervals in the ceiling above. There were a fair number of transgenics moving on the floor and across those catwalks, beginning their day. But, she noticed, a curious absence of any X-Series.

A few of the 'nomalies glanced their way and seemed to recognize Alec, to Max's surprise. For some reason, she had just assumed that Alec knew Mole from back at Manticore. She couldn't imagine that he'd spent much time in Terminal City. He had a sweet deal in the outside world, and he'd never really shown much interest in spending time with transgenics other than herself and Joshua. She especially couldn't imagine him hanging regularly with the transhuman set. Yet, as he led her across the floor several nodded to him. She moved a bit closer and said in a quiet voice, "I take it you've been in here before?"

"Yeah, briefly, yesterday."

He didn't seem inclined to give her any more than that, though Max was positive that there was a story there. She was considering whether or not to push the issue, when they arrived at the bottom of a raised platform. The platform seemed to be the heart of Central Command for the transhumans. There were quite a few functioning computers and a pretty decent surveillance system in place.

Alec stopped just below the platform and felt Max halt just behind him. He was really glad she hadn't questioned him further about his visit to TC the previous night. He didn't really want to remind her of what she'd done to Biggs & Cece. Sure enough, they'd have to deal with it eventually, but not while she was still so uneasy if he could help it. He was hoping he could find Eve without encountering the two battered X5's. He searched the platform above his head for either Dix or Luke and wasn't disappointed. They both stood near the monitors watching the surveillance feed from around their territory, as well as news coverage of the new citywide transgenic frenzy.

"Yo, guys," Alec called. "How's it going this morning?"

The two men looked over at him. Dix nodded and Luke immediately came over to the railing. "Hey, Alec. Looks like you found Max." He waved. "Heya, Max. Good to see you again." His smile was warm and genuine. It was hard to believe that a man so earnest and unguarded had come from Manticore. That is except for the rodent-like features and pallid, waxy skin.

Max gave him an amused smile. "Good to see you too, Luke. Glad you made it home in one piece."

"Well, we trannies are made of some sturdy stuff," he chuckled at his own joke. "So, what can I do for you guys? Did you know you're bleeding there, Alec?"

"Ah, yeah Luke. I'd noticed," Alec deadpanned while Max hid a smirk. "You wouldn't happen to know where Eve is, would ya?"

"Sure thing, Alec. She was heading up to her makeshift infirmary to check on your friends. Gimme a sec and I'll show you where it is."

Alec's smile was tight. "Thanks, bud." He ticked off the seconds in his head before Max was questioning him. It was no more than three by his count.

"What friends, Alec?"

He sighed, hating that this couldn't be put off for just a few more hours. "Do you remember going to a club last night?" She nodded and he continued, "Do you remember what happened after you left the club?"

Max seemed to think for a moment. Then her eyes widened and some of the color drained from her cheeks. "I fought. I attacked two transgenics. X5's." She swallowed. Her voice was little more than a whisper, "I was going to kill --"

Alec interrupted her before she could go on, "But you didn't."

She hissed, "Only because you stopped me!" She was trembling. It wouldn't have been noticeable to anyone else, but Alec could see the fine tremors in her hands. Her eyes were starting to fill. With sudden absolute clarity, he realized that she was afraid. He'd never seen Max afraid of anything before. He knew she was on the verge of another emotional outburst like she'd experienced at the hospital, and standing in the middle of Central Command was neither the time nor the place. Among their kind, public displays of weakness could put you at the bottom of the food chain real quick. Regardless of the fact that they'd all been outside of Manticore for almost a year, they were all still soldiers at the core, and strength mattered. If Max was going to face other transgenics she needed to snap out of it, and fast.

Alec stepped into her personal space, gripping one of her hands in his. He turned so that his back was to the room and he was shielding her from any casual glances. He kept his shoulders relaxed so as not to draw attention to them. "What happened yesterday happened because of the cure, Max. You were off balance and your judgment was shot to hell. Today you're back in control. You can fix what's broken." He spoke in a quiet, commanding voice. His tone was so low it seemed to be just a rumble in his chest, but Max heard what he said loud and clear. "But right now you're in unfamiliar territory, soldier. So, get your head back in the game."

His words struck her like a blast of cold water. The trembling in her hands stopped and her eyes focused sharply on his. She took one steady breath and another, then nodded once. He released her hand just as Luke came toward them.

"Ok then, you guys ready?"

Max smiled at the small man without any hint of her near breakdown. "Lead the way, Luke."

He took them up and across one of the high catwalks to a second level filled with short halls and small office suites. The lighting was a bit brighter up here, though it was that horrible fluorescent kind that made everyone look just a little bit dead. Luke led them all the way down the hall and the sounds from the main warehouse receded into a quiet background buzz. He finally stopped at a closed door, tapping gently before turning the knob and stepping in. Alec followed just behind him and Max brought up the rear. She only hesitated for a fraction of a second before entering the room. She kept her gaze locked on his broad back and matched her steps to his.

The medium-sized room beyond the door was probably once used as a meeting space. Most of the tables and chairs had been removed and a few old mattresses brought in. In the farthest corner of the room two of the mattresses has been stacked one on top of the other. A willowy blond was stretched across the bed. Her left leg was encased in makeshift splint from her hip to the sole of her foot and was propped up on a wooden crate. A dark haired young man with an infectious smile sat next to her on the bed, his back to the room.

Luke walked up to the side of the bed. "Heya Cece, how're ya feeling?"

"Probably about the same as I look."

"That good, huh?"

"Eve won't give me any more morphine, but she won't let me take this damn splint off either."

"Oh yeah? Where is Eve, anyway?"

Cece sulked, "I'm sure she went off to find more medieval torture devices to use on me."

Biggs rolled his eyes and spoke up, "Don't mind her, Luke. She's always cranky in the morning."

Cece sat up, a sharp comeback for him on the very tip her tongue when she spotted Alec and then Max over his shoulder. Any hint of color drained out of her already porcelain-toned skin and she scooted against the wall a much as her trussed leg would allow. At her reaction, Biggs quickly stood and turned toward the others, shielding Cece with his body. At first, he only saw Alec and started to relax. Then he noticed Max standing just beyond and trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. His stance became even more rigid.

Luke seemed not to perceive the sudden hostility in the air. "Well, I think I know where Eve might be getting supplies from," he said with his normal cheer. "I'll go get her and let her know about your arm, Alec." The transhuman didn't wait for a reply before leaving on his quest.

Biggs was still standing defensively between the bed and the other X5's. Alec held up his hands to show that they were not a threat. "It's ok, Biggs. The situation is secure." Biggs glanced from him to Max and back again. He locked eyes with Alec and then nodded once, easing the set of his muscles just a hair. Alec stepped to the side a bit and pulled Max forward. "This is Max, X5-452. She's a friend of mine." Alec realized he was announcing that Max was an 09er, but he also knew that Biggs wouldn't challenge it if Alec vouched for her.

He squeezed Max's arm, not enough for either of the other X5's to notice, but enough for Max to get the message. He was there, he had her back, and she was strong and in control. "Max, this is Biggs and that's Cece." Knowing her the way he did, Alec could see the armor she'd wrapped around herself to face them. He felt a spark of pride when she squarely met Biggs's eyes and spoke with an unwavering voice.

"Hey," she said to him with a small smile. "You've got some pretty impressive skills, man." He nodded again, and Max was encouraged to see a ghost of an answering smile at the edges of his mouth. She turned toward the blonde, who still huddled in the bed. Cece wouldn't meet her eyes, and as Max approached the bed the other woman seemed to shrink farther into herself. She seemed determined that Max not see her as a threat in any way. The sight of her like that set off confusing, conflicting emotions within Max. She felt both sickened and thrilled by the knowledge that she was so much better than the other X5, that she could cow another transgenic into submission so completely.

There was silence in the room as Max stood over the bed, not knowing what to do next, while Cece displayed the behavior of prey instead of the natural-born predator that she was. Alec cleared his throat, and both women started. Then Max did what she always did whenever she was scared or nervous. Stuck out her hip and came with some major attitude.

"Listen, I'm sorry I went all psycho on your ass." Cece's head snapped up in surprise. Max put as much sincerity as she could behind the attitude and continued, "We might as well blame Manticore for the whole dealio. It won't happen again. So, we all good?"

Cece blinked at her for a moment, trying to decipher her jargon. "Uh, yeah," she finally stammered, "yeah, we're good."

"Great." Max stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Cece." When Cece shook her hand, Max was glad to feel that the other woman's grip was strong and sure betraying none of her earlier submissiveness. Max's smile was real when she stepped back from the bed and angled herself until she could speak to the guys along with Cece.

"So were you all friends back at Manticore?"

Alec chuckled at her question. "Uh, not quite. I'd never had the pleasure of meeting Cece," he winked at the blonde, who blushed. Max and Biggs rolled their eyes. "But, Biggs and I worked a couple of the same missions."

"But, you two aren't from the same unit?"

"I didn't have a unit," Alec said.

"What do you mean, you didn't have a unit? Everyone had a unit."

"Not everyone." Something in his tone startled Max. It seemed like much of his usual mirth had bled from his voice. It reminded her of talking to him around the time of that whole Berrisford thing. Beside them, Biggs and Cece shifted, as if they were suddenly uncomfortable in the air around them. Max sought Alec's eyes. She didn't like the bitterness she saw flare there, but she didn't want to press him in front of strangers.

"Oh." She felt lame saying it, but there was nothing else she could think of that wouldn't sound worse. She looked away from Alec to find Biggs and Cece staring at her.

Just then the resident medic appeared, breaking the mounting tension. "Luke told me I had a new patient waiting," she said by way of salutation.

Alec gave the fanged red-head a genuine smile. "Hey, Eve. Think you could patch a guy up?" He indicated the bullet wound in his shoulder with a negligent wave.

She raised an eyebrow over luminous blue eyes. "Do I even want to know how you got that?"

His smile widened and he put his good arm around Max's shoulders. "I was saving a damsel in distress, of course."

"More like working a damsel's last damn nerve," Max muttered and pushed him away from her with a look of mock disgust. The push was gentler than she'd normally use, but she didn't want to risk worsening his wound.

"Hey! Is that how you talk about the man who got shot protecting you?"

"Please! I can take care of myself, pretty boy."

They were falling back on their comfortable banter. Max knew that Alec was instigating it to get her mind off the earlier tension. Even though she should have been the one trying to make him feel better, as usual it was the other way around. She was grateful and hoped that he could see that in her eyes.

"Kids," Eve interrupted them. "As entertaining as all this is, I'd rather just see to 494 and go on about my day."

Max sobered instantly. "His name is Alec," she corrected, stepping toward the older transgenic. When Eve just stared at her with no response, Max stood up straighter as an irrational anger began to pulse through her. "I named him Alec," she said through clenched teeth. "That's what you call him."

Eve tilted her head to the side and studied the female X5 standing in front of her. She seemed unphased by Max's sudden defensiveness. "And, what should I call you?"

"My name is Max." The X5 couldn't explain it, but she felt the need to assert herself over the transhuman facing her. The rational part of her brain was telling her that her hostility was way out of line. Eve hadn't done anything to threaten her or Alec. The woman was a medic. She was there to help. Still, there was something about her that was setting Max on edge. The urge to step into the other woman's personal space was almost overwhelming. It was all Max could do to keep her legs rooted to the ground.

From where he stood behind her, Alec was shocked to see Max clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides. Eve just faced her calmly, not radiating even an ounce of threat. Yet, there was fine tremor running through Max's body. It seemed to Alec that she was visibly keeping herself in check with the barest of control. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on with her, but he knew she was in trouble.

Max's rational side desperately wanted to break eye contact with Eve, it wanted her to step back. But the war raging inside her was making that impossible. It was taking all her control just to refrain from making an overtly aggressive move toward the redhead. At the exact moment when she wasn't sure if she could fight her urges anymore, she felt Alec step up into her body. His warm palm came to rest at the small of her back and it was as if all the fight left her in one huge rush.

She immediately closed her eyes to stop staring Eve down. She leaned back just enough so that the corner of her body was lightly pressed against Alec's solid frame. The sound of her heart's steady rhythm became a focus for her. She forced more muscles to unclench with each beat. She inhaled deeply and was calmed even further when the familiar smell of leather, clean sweat, and pure male surrounded her. The sharp, metallic tang of Alec's blood came to rest at the back of Max's tongue and brought her back to center.

Her transformation from attack mode to her usual collected self occurred in less than thirty seconds, but to Max it felt like it took much longer. Those in the room who didn't know her never even knew what was happening. For Alec, the effort it took her to reestablish her normal level of control was glaringly clear. The cure may have run it's course through her system, but she was still not completely better. Once his wound was dressed, he'd have to keep her from as many new people as possible for a bit and watch her closely until he was sure that she was completely back to normal.

Alec turned his attention to the medic. "So, how 'bout it, Eve?"

She answered with a simple "Follow me," and exited the room with Alec and Max in tow. The gentle pressure of Alec's hand at the small of Max's back remained steady and warm as they followed Eve toward the front end of the corridor. Neither acknowledged the contact, but both felt infinitely better with it.

They entered a small office the lay in the exact middle of the hallway on the left. The room was very dimly lit, and lacked a window of its own. It looked more like a storage closet someone decided to stuff a desk and small filing cabinet into. Luke must of given Eve a rough sketch of Alec's injury. She'd already set the desk with bandages, sutures, and other items necessary to patch up a gunshot wound. There was even a small knife sitting next to a neon green cigarette lighter, Alec noted with definite chagrin. He sighed in resignation and began to strip off his jacket.

Silently and without him asking, Max reached up small hands to help him. The palm of one hand still carried the stain of his blood from earlier. Doing something useful made her feel more in control. Concentrating on Alec made it easier to ignore her own weird issues. She stubbornly refused to think about the fact that it gave her another excuse to stay very close to him. There was a lot of blood, most of which had dried to become a tacky adhesive. The leather of his jacket was sticking to the cotton of his t-shirt, which was in turn sticking to his wound. She focused on easing the fabrics apart. She pulled gently, but Alec still complained.

"Ow! Hello, pain!" He made more noise about it than he really felt – all the better to distance himself from the sensation of Max's soft puffs of breath against his barcode.

"Oh, quit whining like a big baby."

"Way to go with the bedside manner, Maxie."

"A. You're not in bed. B. Shut up and quit squirming." After a few more moment, Max was able to work the jacket free from his shoulder. They both hesitated once there was nothing left to remove but Alec's t-shirt. Behind him, Max twisted her hands in the hem of black fabric. Despite Eve's presence, the sexual tension between them spiked. If they'd been able to see each other's faces, Max would have seen Alec nervously lick his lower lip, just as he would have seen her biting at hers.

Then Joshua was bursting into the room. Max released Alec's t-shirt and they both turned to face the big guy.

"Joshua –" Max's voice broke as she took in the bandage on his face and the bruising, and guilt swept over her.

Joshua hesitated a moment and sniffed the air in front of her before enveloping her with his large frame. Max burrowed as far as she could into him, burying her face in his chest and squeezing her eyes shut. She wouldn't cry again, especially not in front of Eve.

"I'm sorry, Joshua," she whispered as quietly as possible. "I'm so sorry." She held him more tightly, willing him to understand and forgive her. He grunted a little in pain at the contact, and Max started to pull away. Then, she felt his arms tighten around her in response, pulling her in closer, and his lips upon the top of her head.

"It's okay, Lil' Fella. Everything okay," he soothed. "Big Fella okay. Lil' Fella smell okay now. It's all good." As Max felt his warm breath stir her hair, his words sent relief coursing through her. It made her weak in the knees and was almost enough to force tears past her lashes. Unable to speak, she just nodded against him and held on.

Alec walked close to the two of them. Joshua smiled at him over Max's head. "Medium Fella needs to dodge better."

"Ha ha, dogboy. Listen, it's kinda crowded in here and I want to stop leaking blood sometime this week. How about you and Maxie hang outside in the hall for a sec?"

"Alright, Alec," he nodded and looked down at Max. "Come on, Lil' Fella. Joshua can tell you about new friends while we wait." Max let herself be guided out of the room, still not quite ready to speak.

Once they were gone, Alec yanked the black, blood-soaked t-shirt over his head. He clamped his jaw tight over a hiss of pain. Eve beckoned him over to take a seat in the office chair and then began probing his wound with expert fingers. Alec employed deep breathing exercises to distance his mind from the fiery throbbing as she cleaned the blood from his shoulder.

"You were pretty lucky, I'd say. The bullet went clean through and managed to miss bone and any main arteries. I won't even have to cauterize."

Alec grunted at that. "Great."

"If you take it easy for the rest of today, you should be good as new tomorrow."

"Sure thing, doc," was his automatic response. She rolled her eyes, knowing that he probably wouldn't really heed her advice. X5's always made the worst patients.

Alec looked around the room, and thought of something. "Eve, I need to know what we've got here in terms of medical capabilities. How many medics living in TC? What kind of facilities did the ordinaries leave when they abandoned this area? We need to put together some sort of working hospital for emergencies." He paused as he thought back to the previous night at Harbor Lights and the panicked vulnerability he felt guarding an incapacitated Max in such an unsecured location. "Taking our wounded the hospitals on the outside risks exposure for all of us. We can't afford that, especially now that we're all over the legitimate news."

She nodded and began to close up the wound. "I assume you want a tally of medics among the X Series?"

"All transgenics. We're in this together, regardless of whatever the going attitude has been. We've got all the same enemies, and the only way we're going to survive in enemy territory is if we're united."

"It'll take more than just me to poll all the folks here and canvas the area for facilities and equipment."

"I'll see about getting you a team by the end of the day." He smirked and said, "I'm sure there are quite a few X6's and X8's down on Oak Street with too much free time on their hands."

Out in the hallway, Max hugged Joshua again. Something hard pressed into her cheek and she pulled her head back to see what. It was a small pendant attached to a simple strip of leather that encircled Joshua's neck. She raised her hand and took up the pendant, seeing clearly that its design was exactly that of the Familiar brand that was now all but faded completely from her palm.

"Joshua, where did you get this?"

"It was Father's. He gave it to me before he left Manticore."

Familiars, Sandeman, Manticore: it was all too much for Max to process just then. She still felt so exhausted and off-kilter. It was easier to just be content that her family was here with her and safe and forgiving. She let the pendant slide out of her hand and leaned against the wall, still close against Joshua's side. His arm was around her shoulders and his hand rested gently on her hair.

She sighed, "So tell me about your new friends, Big Fella."

"Not all so new. Lots and lots from the basement."

Max glanced up at him. "The ones you used to take care of?"

"Uh-huh. All happier now. More food to eat and not trapped in cages. No Manticore guards beating on them and no tests that hurt."

"Yeah, but they're still hiding."

"But free and all together again." He gave her a squeeze. "That matters, Lil Fella."

Joshua didn't seem to need an answer from her. He just stood next to her, reassuring her with his large presence while Max thought about what he'd said. It was true that having her own around her had made her life on the outside easier. She still had to hide what she was from the ordinary world, but knowing that she could always find Joshua and Alec, could let down her defenses and just be herself, had made her life so much better.

Her friend must have sensed her understanding. He nodded once and said, "Joshua really like our new home."

Max pulled away and looked up at him quizzically. "New home? What are you talking about, Joshua?"

At that moment Alec stepped out of the office and into their conversation. "What he means is that, with everything going on outside right now, it's really better if we stick together and lay low for a little bit."

She turned and gave Alec a quick once over, noticing that the lines of pain around his eyes seemed to have eased. Eve must have done a pretty good job patching him up. Max dismissed his words with a wave of her hand. "Whatever Alec, I doubt that hoverdrone had a chance to focus on either of us before I took it down."

"You weren't the only thing exposed yesterday, Max. As a matter of fact, you're sort of small potatoes."

"What are you talking about, Alec?"

"White got his hands on a transhuman, Mule by name. Then he turned him over to be executed by the sector police." He saw shock and pain and the inevitable guilt chase across her face. His tone was gentle when he said, "The world knows we're out here now, Maxie."

Max shook her head. Alec watched as her normal denial took affect and her armor of indifference slammed into place. "It doesn't matter," she declared with stubborn defiance. "I'm not abandoning my apartment and my life. It took me too many years to get what I've got. I'm not throwing that freedom away."

Alec looked to the man on Max's other side for help. Their large friend put a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder and waited until she looked up at him before chiming in. "Joshua left Father's house and a new friend. Everyone make sacrifices, Lil' Fella," he said, and squeezed her shoulder. "All safer together. All stronger together. Still free. Staying free easier if we watch each other's backs." A look of iron determination that Max seldom saw came over his canine features, taking root deep in his blue eyes. "Joshua never giving up our freedom, Lil' Fella. Never going back in the basement again."

Max swallowed past the sudden lump in her throat. "No more basement for you, Big Fella. I promise." She squared her shoulders, put both hands on her hips, and looked defiantly over at Alec. "We'll stay here together for now. Just until it's safer out there." She tossed her wavy hair over one shoulder. "Besides, we're closer to Crash and Jam Pony here anyway."

Alec rolled his eyes at her. "Wow, Maxie. What an outstanding idea." He managed to wait until after she'd hit him to flinch.

With a quick grin, Joshua pulled both of them to him, though he tugged more gently on Alec. "All for one! One for all!" He laughed and looked down at his at friends. They both stared back at him blankly. "Alexandre Dumas," he said to Max. She gave him an empty smile and nod. "Three Musketeers," he said to Alec.

"Sure, buddy." He gave Joshua a jovial punch to the chest. "Whatever you say."

The big man rolled his eyes in disgust and let go of them. "Why does Joshua even try? Going to find new digs." He walked away muttering to himself about books and boob tubes.

Alec turned to Max. "What was that all about?"

She made a face and shook her head. "Not a clue."

He tossed the question aside for a more important topic. "Well, I'm starving. I hear they've got some sort of mess hall around here. You game?"

Max looked at him, his face carefree as if they hadn't just made an important decision about their lives. Same old Alec. His laidback air put her at ease again. "Sure, why not."

A few minutes later, several eyes tracked the X5's as they walked across the ground level of Command. Two pairs were merely curious, but one was openly hostile.

"What kind of a name's 'Alec' anyway?" The question followed a couple of grunts and an angry mumble of choice phrases.

"I'm sure I don't know, Mole," came Dix's deadpan response as he turned back to his computer equipment.

"Well," Luke piped up from the other side of the platform, "Eve said his designation's 494."

Mole's head whipped around and he snatched his newly-lit cigar from between his lips. "What did you say?"

"Uh, Eve called him 494."

"You're telling me that guy," Mole pointed with the cigar toward the other end of the room where Alec was walking out the door with Max. "That scrawny little man over there who keeps bringing more X-series into our section of town is 494?"

Luke thought about it for a moment and then nodded vigorously. "Uh, yup."

"Well, I'll be…" Mole stuck his cigar back in his mouth and puffed thoughtfully, looking in the direction that the two X's had just taken. He suddenly chuckled. "Boys, I think it's finally about to get fun around here." He threw his shotgun over his shoulder and went back on patrol, humming to himself as he walked away.

* * *

A half-hour later found Max and Alec ensconced in a relatively clear alley behind an abandoned high school just a few blocks from Command. The transhumans had managed to get the school's kitchen in enough order to rough out a few square meals a day. Max tried not to think about what kind of meat made up the watery brown stew she was eating. She was pretty sure it wasn't anything worse than what she'd had to consume back in the early days after she and her siblings escaped Manticore. Not to mention that, as hungry as she was, any meal seemed gourmet at the moment.

She glanced over at Alec, who sat on the crate beside her inhaling his food with abandon. She envied his ability to relax into any situation. Now that she'd eaten and didn't feel quite as run down, she found herself wound as tightly as the shocks on her Ninja. As much as she'd been trying to push back thoughts of the day before, they just wouldn't stay gone. She wasn't feeling as off balance as she had earlier either, so she could no longer avoid claiming her thoughts and feelings as truly her own. Facing that truth was the hardest part. Manticore may have been gone for months, but she was still running and hiding. Only this time she was avoiding herself.

"It isn't Manticore. It's me," she whispered under her breath.

Alec had the superior hearing that all transgenics had, so he heard her. Besides, he was sitting right next to her, and it didn't take a pop psychologist to figure out what was on her mind. "Max, you were under the influence of that wacked out cure." He was hoping to head off her impending self-flagellation at the pass.

Unfortunately, Max had other ideas. She shook her head decisively. "That's just it, Alec. Some of the things I did, so many of the things I said were because that's how I really feel. Deep down in places I never look, that's how I really feel." Her tone was full of self-loathing and it severely grated on Alec.

"So?" He made a face at her. "So what if that is the real you? Max, if you ask me, a lot of what happened yesterday is because you spend so much time trying to control what you feel and everything else around you." His arm whipped across the air in front of them as if to encompass the whole world. "You've bottled up so much for so long, it was bound to explode out sometime."

Max narrowed her eyes at him. "Maybe I do. Maybe trying to control everything is wrong." Her voice rose as she continued, "But, that still doesn't make what happened yesterday right, Alec. This is not how I'm supposed to be."

"Says who? Humans?" He rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Newsflash, Maxie: the ordinaries out here are pretty damn fucked up. And you," he pointed at her with his bent spoon, "you keep confusing 'normal' with 'perfect'. They're not, and neither are we. Though I'd say we're damn closer to perfect than they are." He locked eyes with her. "Maybe you just need to stop fighting yourself all the time. Stop trying to fit the mold of an ordinary and be what you are."

"Yeah?" She lashed out at him with her voice because he was an easier target for the anger she really wanted to direct at herself. "And what's that, Alec? A soldier? A killer? Deck and Ben already gave me that line, thanks."

"No, not a killer. We've all killed, but that's not what we are." He set his now empty bowl on the ground and wiped his hands over his jean-covered thighs.

"What are we then, Alec?" Max demanded. She put her bowl down too, though hers was not empty. She'd lost her appetite.

He was silent for a moment, staring off into the distance with a struggle darkening his eyes. A deep line furrowed his brow. She saw his chest rise as he took a deep breath. "I think that we are something that human society hasn't seen in a very long time. We're not just survivors, we're warriors."

She let out a small bark of laughter. "What? You think we really are the gladiators from Normal's wet dreams?"

There was no laughter in his eyes when he answered her. "Exactly," he nodded. "Except we have an advantage over those men from the human past. We've got the physical power to match our instincts to survive."

"Oh yeah," she scoffed, "we're the perfect weapons."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." His jaw clenched and he labored for a moment to put into words what he'd only just realized himself a short while ago. "We feel more than the cold weapons Manticore meant to create. We're more rational than the greatest human minds. We've got more control than the bloodthirsty animals the world's gonna think we are. We're better than the sum of our genetic parts, Maxie." He breathed a sincere murmur, "We may even be better than we think we are."

Max looked away. She wanted to believe him, she really did, but she wasn't sure she could. Alec's words were so much the echo of the thoughts she'd had a few hours ago, right after she'd used the gun on the cars chasing them. If Alec and her instincts were telling her the same thing, maybe she ought to pay attention. The problem was she couldn't be sure she even knew how to let go and be herself, whoever that might be. She would have to fight to rearrange every defense and coping mechanism she'd built up in her decade on the outside.

When she spoke again, her words were quiet, as if her admission were a great secret. "I've spent half my life running from the past, Alec. Running from what we are and who I am."

"Max," he said gently, "we've all done things in our pasts that we're not proud of, every transgenic. And most of those were things that Manticore drove us to, either by direct orders or through fear. So we did what we had to do." He took another deep breath. "But, I was wrong you know. Because we'll never forget and we'll always care. It's what makes us all better than they said we were. You've shown me that." He met her gaze unwaveringly when she stared at him. "But no matter what, never be ashamed of what we are, Maxie." He smirked then. "We can't let them win, right?"

After a few moments she timidly returned his smile. It didn't reach her eyes, but the gesture assured Alec that she'd heard him even if she wasn't ready to see what he was trying to show her. It gave him a little hope that Max might be able to find herself in between the prudish killjoy he'd met almost a year ago and the self-assured hellcat he'd fought yesterday.

He watched her profile as she stared up at the unusually clear blue sky above them. A strong, autumn breeze blew her wavy locks around her collar, giving him glimpses of her fading bruises. He cleared his throat, bringing her eyes back to his. "Sorry about…" He made a vague gesture toward his neck. Max reached up to the mottled skin of her own throat. Then her hand dropped and she shrugged.

"S'all good," she said, then smirked at him. "I need to get my ass kicked once in a while, just to keep me real."

"Oh, now you tell me!"

She smiled a little bit bigger and said, "Shut up, pretty boy."

They sat in companionable silence for another moment. Alec thought back to something she'd said during their fight. Something that had been nagging at the back of his mind ever since.

"Max?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me what happened to Ben."

Max went stock still. She even stopped breathing. She didn't want to tell Ben's story. Keeping the truth of it from herself and the world had been so important for so very long. After all, it wasn't as if anyone would ever be able to understand or forgive her what had happened. Not when she couldn't.

But, Ben's twin had asked for the facts, and she owed it to them both to answer. So, after several moments she looked into Alec's face. She expected to encounter some sort of vague accusation. She saw only open curiosity waiting for her answer. No judgment or guarded walls, just eyes the same changeable color as her brother's had been.

"I handled it all wrong" she spoke into that waiting silence. "I didn't understand. I didn't want to understand." She looked off into the distance beyond Alec. Suddenly, she was back in a church with her brother.

"_Ben, why are you doing this?" _

"_You know why."_

"I didn't want to see what Ben was showing me. I didn't want to see that part of myself." Her next words came out as barely a whisper. "I wanted to pretend I was normal. I couldn't pretend with Ben around. So, I ignored how much he needed me, when I should have had his back." Alec could hear her swallow.

"_We never should have left. Everything made sense there."_

"Zack had made us all split up. Half a lifetime without contact. Ben was alone and confused. So, he fell back on the basics. Discipline. Duty. Mission. Like he was trying to find some order in all the chaos of the world outside. I think that's what drove him insane."

Minutes passed, while Max stared off into the nothing beyond Alec's shoulder. Her eyes were glassy and features were pinched with grief. Alec started to think that she wouldn't be able to tell him any more. But then she blinked rapidly and continued on in a clear, strong voice.

"He'd started killing people. They were his sacrifices to a god we'd made up as children. He kept creating one particular day in Seek & Destroy when my unit tore a man apart. To Ben, that was our greatest moment, our strongest moment. And so he kidnapped people, forced them into a contest that an ordinary could never win, killed them, and offered their teeth to the Blue Lady. He tried to repeat his ritual here. I couldn't allow him to do that."

Max sat rigidly, her back straight, hands clasped in her lap, eyes staring into the middle distance. The anguished expression on her face had bled to blankness. Her tone was cold, detached. She relayed the facts as if giving a report on events that happened to someone else. Alec had heard many fellow Manticore soldiers use the same cadence, often when they were suffering the effects of post-traumatic stress or battle fatigue. Hell, Alec had used it himself. It was a defense mechanism, and it allowed them to keep their sanity when there was no outlet for emotional release. Watching and listening as Max displayed those same symptoms stabbed at some deep part of him.

"We fought in the woods. I broke his leg. Lydecker was zeroing in on our position. We could hear soldiers sweeping no more than two clicks to our rear. The choppers were close, and our location was nearly compromised."

Alec winced. The phrasing was so unlike the Max he knew. Listening to her report in like an automaton made him want to scream. He had to stop it, and so he followed his instincts. He placed a hand between her shoulder blades and rubbed in a small circle. The leather of her coat was thin and supple as he glided his palm across her back. Maybe she could feel some of his warmth. Her back rounded slightly into his touch.

"I told Ben that I couldn't carry him. Having us both get caught was not a viable option in my mind. It wasn't for him, either. He knew that if Manticore recaptured him, they would kill him trying to fix him. So, he asked me to instead. And, I did. I snapped Ben's neck. It was quick and painless." A small shudder ran through her body as she said the words.

Alec slid his hand up, beneath the dark cascade of her hair, to the nape of her neck. He brushed his fingers firmly over her barcode to let her know that he was there, that he could understand her regret and sorrow because he was burdened with his own, that he could understand what she was because he was the same. Another shudder ran through her when she felt the warmth of Alec's touch, and the blank Manticore mask gave way to her pain.

He moved his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. He turned his face into her hair. "I'm sorry, Max." He could smell the salt of her grief.

"I never even tried to carry him or hide." Her breath hitched on a sob. "I killed my brother because I didn't try harder. Because, I wasn't willing to sacrifice myself." She knew Alec could feel her body trembling with her tears, but it didn't matter any more. She let him see her weakness because she didn't know how to be strong and share this memory. She leaned into Alec and trusted him to anchor her while she relived the storm. For the second time that day, her tears soaked his chest and he held on so she could let go.

When her sobs had quieted a bit, Alec's deep voice washed over her. "Survival is the strongest instinct for every transgenic, Max. But, the need to protect our own," he unconsciously breathed in her familiar scent, "well, that seems to grow once we've recognized them on the deepest level. So deep that we feel like their survival is tied to ours." He sighed and tightened his hold on her slender shoulders. "But sometimes, when you've been solo for a long time, it's hard to get that back. Like you said, you had half a lifetime with no contact. Reversing that takes time."

She didn't acknowledge his words, but he could no longer feel any trembling from her. His shirt was still damp and cool, but the scent of her tears was not nearly as strong as it had been. He kept his arm wrapped around her and allowed his fingers to tangle in the warmth of her silky hair. He would sit like this for as long as she needed him to, even if that meant forever. It was odd, but holding her made him feel safe. The sensation was so unfamiliar that it had taken him some time to figure out exactly what it was. He wondered if this was what Max had felt like as a child with her unit, her 'siblings'. If it was, then he could understand why they had meant so very much to her.

He felt the vibrations of her voice before he heard it. "How long were you alone?" Her question was softly spoken, but threw him off balance nonetheless. When he didn't answer her immediately, she pulled back from his embrace so that she could see him. His arm slid back down to his side. "You said you that not everybody had a unit."

He nodded. "Yeah, that's right," he said, avoiding her eyes. "There were a handful of us, the twins of 09ers and the members of your unit who were left behind. They separated us from our units and each other after you all ran away. We were considered to be a serious flight risk, and any connection with our own would increase that." He shrugged and put as much indifference as he could muster into his voice. "We were trained to operate with Manticore as our only attachment. If we went out on group missions with the units, it was always as specialists. Then, once we'd proven ourselves sufficiently loyal, we were sent on solo missions. Usually deep cover ops in enemy territory where Manticore was the only thing you could trust. Sometimes the assignments were long-term." He shrugged again. It was a fact of his life. "I've spent most of my life alone."

Max considered his profile for a moment. "I guess we're not that different after all." She made sure to keep all her carefully constructed walls down when he looked at her. She wanted him to see the truth. She wanted the comfort of the connection to him that she'd felt sitting on the Space Needle in the rain. His hazel eyes were intense and raw with an emotion she couldn't identify. He seemed to search for something in her face for several heartbeats. All of a sudden, his mischievous grin – the one that drove her insane because she found it so damn endearing despite herself – broke free.

"Yeesh. Well, that's enough of the heavy conversation for one day." He bounded off the crate, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. "How 'bout we go get us a drink?"

"Alec, it's 9 o'clock in the morning."

"So? It's not like we've got weak constitutions or anything. Besides, I thought the new Maxie was gonna be loads of fun."

"Oh, please."

"And, speaking of fun, what'd you take from that motorcycle shop? Other than the owner's pride, that is."

"Uh, just a couple cans of NOS." Max noticed his incredulous look and got a little defensive. "What? It's not like you wouldn't have done the same."

"Oh, I would have done the same – though I would've waited until after closing – but, I also would have mentioned that I had rigged my bike with super speed when we were in the middle of being chased by White and his Merry Band of Transgenic Hunters!"

"Huh." She shrugged and stood up. "I guess it just slipped my mind. My bad."

He rolled his eyes heavenward and threw up his hands. "Unbelievable," he said, shaking his head.

She studied Alec for a moment. "I know you're not him."

"What?"

"Ben. I know you're not him. I mean, sometimes you'll do or say something that will remind me of the boy I knew back in Manticore, but you never remind me of him all grown up." She glanced away for a moment. "Ben was lost in a way that you've never really seemed to be."

He took a deep breath. "If you'd hated me for reminding you of him and of what happened, I would understand."

She shook her head and gave a wry smile. "Most of the time, Alec, you keep me firmly in the present…in that annoying way that only you have. And there are plenty of disasters in my present to keep my attention," she said wryly.

He raised an eyebrow at that. "You know what'd make you feel better, Maxie?" he asked, slinging his arm over her shoulder and walking them away from the alley.

She turned her head looked at him warily. "What?"

A sly smile spread across his handsome features and laughter was in his eyes when he responded. "Losing horribly to me at our game of pool."

She elbowed him in the stomach but didn't move from under his arm. "Whatever! You are so dreaming!" He ducked his head a bit and she caught a glimpse of his barcode. "You know, we'll have to laser off our barcodes now."

His face fell. "It's gonna hurt, isn't it?"

"Lasers tend to, yeah."

"The barcodes are just gonna come back, you know." He gave her his little boy smile and puppy dog eyes.

She was unswayed. "Then we'll do it again when they do." She watched as his face fell. "Don't be such a sissy."

"I thought you liked sissy boys," Alec said with a smirk. She elbowed him again and this time threw his arm off her shoulders. She stormed off. He laughed and followed after her calling, "Hey, I was just kidding!" He could practically see the steam rising from her ears. "Oh, come on, Maxie! That was funny!"

**TBC**


	10. Epilogue: Startin' Somethin'

Jewel, thanks. You're a gem. Heh.

**Epilogue - Startin' Somethin'**

It was raining in Seattle. Again. Logan took it as a sign that maybe things would be returning to normal. He sat in the den of his penthouse, surrounded by his computers and video equipment and deeply immersed in the latest reports from the Informant Net. He was finally getting comfortable again, now that he was back in his element. It was the best way for him to ignore the fact that Max hadn't come by to check on him, or called, or answered any of his dozen pages. She was probably just trying to stay under the radar. With everything that was going on right now, White was sure to be on the prowl. It was safer for them both this way.

Cotton hissed against leather as he shifted a little in his seat, but there was no whir and click of the exoskeleton. The doctors had instructed him not to tax his body with the apparatus for at least another week or two. So, his movements were once again restricted to the questionable agility of his wheelchair. It was another thing he was trying not to think about. He was also trying to ignore the terrible itch he had beneath the cast on his right forearm. At least he'd been able to finally take his left arm out of the sling earlier that morning. And most of the swelling in his recently dislocated shoulder had disappeared completely. Small mercies.

He put aside the legal pad filled with notes he'd been reviewing and rubbed a hand over his eyes, careful to avoid the cut on his forehead that was finally starting to close. After a moment, he sighed and turned back to his the bank of screens above his desk. His reflection in the largest monitor was translucent, making him appear ghostly to his own eyes. He was setting up for a long-overdue Eyes Only broadcast. The newscasters on every television network had been reporting misinformation on the transgenics for the past forty-eight hours. Enough was enough. The people had the right to know the truth. And who better to set the record straight about the transgenics and their plight than him?

A loud sigh erupted behind him. "I'm bored."

Logan jerked around at the interruption. He winced, and a hiss escaped him as the sudden movement pulled at his fractured ribs. When he finally blinked past the stinging in his eyes, he found Alec lounging in the doorway leading to the front hall. His hair and jacket were damp from the rain, but it didn't seem to bother him that much. The moisture was sure to leave a mark on lacquered frame that he leaned against. He had a sandwich in his hand. The crumbs were falling on Logan's hardwood floor.

Alec continued on as if he hadn't just given Logan a near stroke. "But I gotta say, old buddy, this roast isn't half bad," he said around a mouthful of food. "I'll have to try it warm, next time."

Logan glanced from the transgenic toward his darkened kitchen and back again. So, Alec had been in the apartment long enough to make a sandwich and he hadn't even noticed. He really, really hated the easy way the transgenics could just sneak up on him. As if he needed yet another reminder of how much better Alec was at all things physical. As if he needed another reason to resent the man.

Adjusting his glasses, Logan turned resolutely back to his monitors with the hope that his heartbeat, irregular from the shock, wasn't noticeable to the transgenic. He pretended that Alec wasn't there, and, more importantly, he pretended that Alec wasn't there when Max hadn't contacted him at all. After a few moments, he could hear Alec shift behind him and then the sound of him wandering through the back of the house. He knew that the other man was deliberately making enough noise for him to hear the movement. It grated on Logan's nerves like industrial-strength sandpaper. He clenched his jaw and kept on with his work. Maybe if he ignored Alec, the transgenic would just disappear? Above all, he. Would. Not. Ask. About. Max.

"Just for the record," Alec bellowed from back in the bedroom, "that chick was kicking your ass."

Logan ground his teeth together, and actually raised his voice – but, only to be sure that Alec heard him. "I didn't fight back. I would never raise a hand in violence to Max."

Alec gave a rude snort. "And your precious nobility almost got you killed." Somehow he made his shrug into a gesture that could be heard several rooms away. "Not that you could have really done much damage to Max, anyway."

Logan couldn't take it anymore. With a painful hold born of absolute frustration, he gripped the handrails along the wheels of his chair and slowly rolled away from the desk out into the hallway. "What are you doing here, Alec?" The younger man emerged from the back rooms with his trademark smirk in place, but no reply on his lips. Logan watched him pop the last of the sandwich between his lips and enter the living room. He trailed after him, his annoyance growing with every turn of the wheels and the extra care he had to take not to exacerbate his injuries.

Much of the living room was still in the chaos that Max had created just a couple of days earlier. The glass from the shattered coffee table had been swept away. Logan's blood had been cleaned from the floor, along with the transgenics'. The floor-to-ceiling window had shattered outward with the impact of Alec's body so there hadn't been much to clean up there. But, new cork planks covered the gaping hole left in the frame.

Alec knew that Asha had been here not too long ago, clearing away some of the debris. From his hidden perch on the roof, he'd watched her moving through the penthouse and listened to her chatter away with Logan about the latest S1-W cause. He wondered if Logan was really as oblivious to her clear attraction and feelings as he seemed. He doubted it. Logan probably just chose to ignore Asha in favor of his fixation on Max. Alec really couldn't blame him. Asha was a good woman, but Max was…well…he gave a mental shrug…Max was something special.

He turned to face the real reason he'd come into this room. The plaster of one wall was still caved in a vague echo of Max's shape. He walked over to it and ghosted a finger along its outline. His mind flashed back to that night, how Max's body moved as they danced with fists and feet. A real smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. She was so beautiful when she was fighting. The whole thing had been such a rush, one that Alec hadn't felt for a very long time. He was hoping he could convince her to start training with him routinely. Blood-pumping, heart-pounding exhilaration on a regular basis would do them both some good. Adrenaline was like vitamins for transgenics.

Logan's irritated voice broke through his thoughts. "Are you going to help me pay for the repairs?"

Turning, Alec dusted unseen breadcrumbs from his hands and jacket. He smiled. "You're kidding me, right?"

"No, I'm not kidding. My entire living space was destroyed during your little sparring match, Alec."

Expressive eyebrows raised over equally expressive hazel eyes. "That sparring match saved your life."

"Saved my life?" Logan sat back and narrowed his eyes in condescension. "Oh, please. You're deluding yourself if you honestly believe that Max could ever seriously hurt me." At Alec's pointed perusal of his many injuries, he ground out, "She would never do any permanent damage. Her heart wouldn't let her."

"Right," Alec's gave the one word layers of mocking. "Her heart. So buddy, which part of her would you say was responsible for nearly detaching your head from your body?"

"That. Wasn't. Her."

Alec rolled his eyes and walked by him back into the den muttering, "Now who's delusional?"

Logan shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. He called out, "I ask again, why are you here, Alec?"

"I left my bike behind in your garage the other night," Alec offered by way of explanation. "And, Max wanted you to check this out."

Logan could hear something hitting his desk. Curious, he wheeled himself around to return to the den. A plain envelope was sitting next to his keyboard. Alec was lounging against the opposite doorframe staring at him expectantly. Logan retrieved and opened the package, noting that it was damp at the corners. Inside was a small pendant with the Familiar's cult symbol etched on it. He glanced up.

Alec shrugged. "It's Josh's. Said Sandeman gave it to him. Max figured you'd want to draw a few conclusions."

"So, you're just the messenger." Logan was trying to bait the other man. He knew it was juvenile and beneath him, but he just couldn't help it.

Alec stuck his hands in the pockets of his new jean jacket and smirked. "That's what it says on the sector pass."

"Uh-huh. Why didn't she bring it herself?" Alec just stared at him, whether because he didn't want to share the answer or didn't know it Logan couldn't be sure. After a few moments, Logan dropped his eyes to the pendant in his hand. "Let her know I'll look into it."

"Will do."

Logan nodded once and then cleared his throat, still looking at the pendant in his hands. "Dr. Shankar told me that the cure was successful in ridding Max of the virus," he said in his usual quiet tones. "I assume she told Max –"

Alec kept his voice carefully neutral. "Max knows she can touch you now without killing you."

He nodded again and set the pendant back on his desk. He forced himself to look the other man in the eyes. "Shankar also informed me that it was the cure that made Max sick. I want," he broke off to swallow, "could you tell her how sorry I am." Effort made him pause again before he could say, "Please."

Alec's head was tilted downward and he studied Logan through thick lashes, his expression unreadable. He let the man choke on his pride for a few more heartbeats before speaking. "Max doesn't blame you for what happened. She wants you to know that." He watched with that same hooded stare as Logan visibly relaxed, the guilt melting off of him in waves. "But, I want you to know something else."

The X5 pushed away from the doorway and stalked toward the desk. His normally expressive face had become cold and lifeless. His eyes, usually filled with mischievous laughter, were hard and unmerciful. Logan looked into the face of the man standing less than three feet away from him and felt a chill run down his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He remembered that, up until just a year ago, Alec had been a government-sanctioned assassin. Logan was staring cold, efficient, ruthless Death in the face.

"I want you to know that I do blame you, Logan." Alec leaned forward, wrapping his hands firmly around the wheelchair's armrests. Hazel eyes trapping blue, he spoke quietly, but with a tone of solid steel, "And if you ever do anything that stupid again, anything that even remotely endangers Max or threatens to expose us, I will kill you."

Logan swallowed, but held that flinty gaze – points for him – and gave the only response he could. "I love Max."

Some joviality returned to Alec's face. He chuckled. "Who doesn't?" He pushed away from the wheelchair and plopped himself down in the chair across the room. The smirk was back.

It took a few moments for the implication of Alec's words to fully register in Logan's mind. When they finally did, he couldn't stop his bark of incredulous laughter. "What?" he scoffed. "You think that _you're_ the man she'll choose in the end, Alec?"

Alec gave a casual shrug. "I'm not a man. And Maxie? Well, let's just say she's no lady."

"I know Max," Logan bit out in the face of the other man's flippant attitude. "I know exactly who she is."

"Oh, sure you do," Alec's voice was thick with sarcasm. "'Cause what makes us different from humans is trivial: a little military brainwashing, a few heightened senses, a few cousins that walked on all fours. Nothing to lose sleep over. No reason to discriminate, right Logan?" He quirked an eyebrow over serious eyes. "But it's nature, not nurture. Even those of us who look human are closer to Joshua and the freaks than you know. If we blend in with you ordinaries, it's only because we make a conscious effort and because you all don't like to look beyond the surface."

Logan shook his head. "Alec, what you're saying has no bearing on my relationship with Max. No matter what she pretends, she is not a loner. She needs me in her life."

The X5 rolled his eyes. "You can't even keep up with her, Logan. Not physically, not mentally, not emotionally. You're almost twice her age, but she knows more about life now that you ever will." Alec words were sure, but there seemed to be a hint of sympathy beneath them. "You're right about one thing, though. Her loner stance is bullshit. But, where she's going you can't follow."

The pity in his voice sounded like a challenge to Logan, and made him forget how Alec had scared him not five minutes earlier. He rolled toward him as swiftly as he could, his features twisted into an angry sneer. "Oh, but I suppose you think you can do better, Alec? Think you can be everything that she is? Think you can be her partner?"

The moments stretched taut between them before Alec answered matter-of-factly. "Yes. I do. I am."

In a fit of unthinking desperation, Logan swung his right arm. Alec didn't even blink before catching it barely an inch from his face. His expression remained bland as he slowly squeezed his hand around the other man's wrist until he could hear the plaster creak beneath the pressure. "Don't test me Logan. You have no idea what we're capable of." Alec resisted the urge to squeeze harder, releasing his grip instead.

From what seemed like an eternity ago, Lydecker's words flashed through Logan's mind.

"_They're all killers. All they need is a trigger." _

He cradled his hand to his chest and said, "It doesn't matter to me what she is. I don't care." His statements were more of a reply to the memory echoing through his mind and an answer to the doubt he'd hidden in his heart for almost a year than a rebuttal for the transgenic.

Alec stood and put some distance between them before his temper got the better of him.. "Of course you don't care." The muscle in his jaw ticked visibly when he all but snarled out, "You don't understand."

Logan shook his head and bit out, "I realize it's hard to be a transgenic –"

"That's where you're wrong," Alec interrupted quietly with a cold little smile. "It's hard trying not to be a transgenic. You ordinaries don't have a clue what it's like to be one of us.

"I know better than most."

Alec shrugged. "Maybe you do. But, do you know what's it's like to smell fear? How many colors do you see? Do you know what it's like to fly, Logan?"

"You're different. I get that." Logan could barely hear his own voice over the sound of his grinding teeth.

"It's not that I'm different. It's that I'm better. That's why some humans will always fear us. Because we're better." Alec gave a cocky smile, as if being feared were just one more element to his irresistibility. "Anyway," he switched gears as if they'd only just been talking about the weather, "I hate to cut our little afternoon of bonding short, but I've got to swing by and see OC about Max's things."

Logan's red-faced expression went from impotent frustration to puzzlement.

Alec raised an eyebrow and feigned innocence. "Oh, didn't I mention that we're holed up in Terminal City? Max thought it best, at least until the Ordinaries die down with the whole transgenic frenzy. Josh nosed out some great digs for us." He canted his head to the side and smiled. "The big guy just loves having Max close and so many other trannies around. It's kinda cute."

"Why are you there?" Logan regained his composure and some of his bravado. "Shouldn't you be looking out for number one?"

Alec shrugged. "They're my kind too. Besides, Max asked me to stay." His smile was starting to remind Logan of the Cheshire cat. "And I never could refuse the hot ones." He jerked his chin toward the desk. "She put her cell number in the envelope. Of course, you could always just try my phone. After all, I'll be with her." He turned to leave, throwing parting words over his shoulder, "Don't get up. I'll show myself out."

For a while after the echo of the slamming door had faded, Logan sat in the middle of the room. More than just his legs seemed paralyzed as his mind ran a gamut of emotions, from impotent rage to despair to stubborn hope. He needed a drink. But, he had a job to do first. He wheeled himself back to his bank of monitors. He glanced once at Joshua's pendant with it's cult symbol deeply etched. Research could wait until after Eyes Only's broadcast. Logan fiddled with his camera and executed his anti-trace program on the computer.

"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is an Eyes Only streaming freedom video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in this city…"

* * *

From a television bolted high in the wall of a covert ops headquarters, Logan's voice droned on amidst the rapid clacking of fingers on keyboards.

"Lately every crime, every act of violence committed on our city streets is being blamed on transgenics..."

Agent Ames White strode in and headed straight for his lead agent. "Sixty seconds enough time for a trace?"

Otto's expression was slightly apologetic. "It's hard to say, sir. But, he tends to go over."

"Keep rambling, pal." White's smile was cold and quick. The seconds ticked by, and the cyberjournalist's righteousness was grating on more than just ears. Satellite images flew by on computer screens as the agents came closer and closer to triangulating the signal. White leaned forward. "Give me good news, Otto."

"Almost, sir. The techs are…"

"This has been an Eyes Only streaming freedom video bulletin. Peace. Out."

"Damn," one of the programmers muttered. "A few more seconds and we would have had him."

"We almost had him, sir," Otto repeated unnecessarily. "The next time we'll definitely be able to pinpoint his exact location."

White grunted. "Lucky for you he seems to love the sound of his own voice. Make sure next time is the last time the rest of the world is subjected to it." His cell phone rang as the other man nodded. "Keep me informed, Otto." He strode away and answered his call. "White…" He smiled a tight grin into the phone. "_Fe'nos tol_."

**End Volume 2**

**Author's Note:** First off, if you reacted to this chapter with a _meh_, we may be soulmates. This little epilogue is sub par, but making it into something magnificent (a la Brain, heh) was beyond my limited talents. Yet, it needed to get out and doesn't belong in **Metamorphosis 3** (coming to a computer screen near you in 2006…). So, please forgive me. Secondly, thanks for allowing me to subject you to the meandering journey that is my story. If it has entertained y'all at all over the years (yeesh!), I am truly lucky and absolutely grateful.

**Author's Rant in Three Parts:** I highly value constructive criticism, I really do. If you have taken the time to read my stories and have an opinion on my grammar, the structure of the plot, Alec's hair color, or OC's voice, I'd love to hear it. If you find my style hard to read, if I've failed to paint a clear picture of the action, or if I've neglected or contradicted a subplot, please tell me so that I may improve on it. This kind of straightforward feedback is one of the greatest gifts for which a writer could ask, and I welcome it.

What I do not appreciate is when one presumes to tell me where they know my story is going. Such a one assumes that, just because some other author(s) s/he read empowered or diminished or directed certain characters in a particular way, I am inevitably going to bore the reader with more of the same tripe. Those kinds of audacious disparagements are an insult to my intelligence, my creativity, my originality, and my ability as a writer. You are reading my story, so judge its merits or problems within its own context – i.e., the 150 pages I have written and the circumstances that I have created for the characters.

However, if you do, out of some sense of altruistic responsibility, feel the need to offer up conjecture in order to caution me against falling into an overused cliché, at least have the decency to post your comments with an email address so that the road is open to conversation and exchange of opinions and ideas between us. Otherwise, you're just posting a "review" because you like the look of your own voice – in which case you should feel free to go write your own story and leave me to mine. Thus endeth today's rant of the righteously indignant. 


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